Warrior's Way
by TWDfan
Summary: The last installment in the triology of Daryl and Katelyn's story. The epic conclusion of two lovers separated by circumstance and their fight for survival as they struggle to find one another again.
1. Chapter 1

The Warriors Way-Chapter One

Daryl washed off the blood and grime in the river. He could see nothing but brown grass for miles and wondered if Nebraska was the ugliest state God ever created.

"Smells like a damn barnyard out here!" Merle complained as he stomped through the water toward Daryl.

"At least there's livestock. Shit. I haven't had a hamburger in a long ass time." Daryl said, chuckling as he looked at the cattle wandering around the area.

"We could kill one and carve us up some steaks." Merle suggested, washing his hands off in the running water.

"Take too much time." Daryl said, holding his hand up to block the sun so he could see into the distance, "We gotta be on the road soon. Breed's probably still chasing us and we're sittin' ducks."

Every day, they got closer and closer to Katelyn. Every time Merle wanted to stop, Daryl kept on pushing. He was being driven by one single thought: Katelyn. Merle thought he was crazy, but they'd managed to survive over months and months of hard fought travel. They'd seen some shit too. Enormous herds of walkers mindlessly heading down open stretches of highway by the thousands, human remains stuck up on posts like they'd been crucified by self-proclaimed militia groups, and mass suicides of some sort in almost every state.

The world had gone to shit.

Three weeks back, the two of them had run afoul of some sort of biker gang led by a guy they called "Breed". They'd stayed overnight in an old motel that seemed abandoned but suddenly, Breed and his boys showed up and were demanding "tribute". When the Dixon brothers refused, all hell broke loose. Out numbered and outgunned, they'd barely escaped with their lives but Breed must have been bored because he decided to chase them. They'd had two more encounters with them before shaking them finally but they were always looking over their shoulders now.

As far as Daryl and Merle could tell, this "Breed" guy was some sort of 1%-er left over from the days when that meant something. They had ties to a militia group out of South Dakota that Merle knew of and were wandering the plains like nomadic warlords looking for plunder and power. They had some heavy firepower too, which they probably stole from the National Guard stations when everything went to crap. They'd run into a few survivors along the way that were terrified of them and said there were stories that they were kidnapping any young, female survivors they came across. One family had two daughters taken by them, never to be seen again.

"Come on. It's getting dark. We're too easy to spot with our tail lights. We gotta find a place to hide." Daryl quickly realized that with the biker gang hunting them, they were safer traveling in the daytime.

Sludging through the muddy Platte River, Daryl made his way to shore and grabbed a pair of jeans they'd taken from a Wal-Mart a ways back. Throwing the other jeans in the back of the truck, he grabbed his gear and shoved it onto the seat next to him. Hopping in, he started up the truck and yelled at Merle.

"Come on! Daryl shouted, shoving a piece of jerky in his mouth.

Merle was hopping as he came toward the truck, trying to get his leg in the pants. Buttoning up the last one, he hopped in beside his brother and nodded.

"Let's roll!" He said loudly, pushing the CD into the player.

The music blasted through the cab and Daryl started singing.

_And I ask what for now  
Why me, why war?  
And I ask what for now  
Vietnam War?  
Spend my time there by the shore_

Pounding the steering wheel to the rhythm of the song, Daryl sang loudly and off key. Merle covered his ears, wondering what his brother was listening to.

"What the hell is this!?" Merle shouted over the noise.

Daryl grinned, singing even louder until Merle reached over and hit the eject button.

"Hey!" Daryl yelled, trying to grab the CD.

"Hell na! I'm gonna put in some real music!" Merle reached in the back, grabbing one of the CD's back there. Sliding it into the stereo, Merle smiled as the music started playing.

_Back in black_

_I hit the sack_

_I've been too long I'm glad to be back_

_Yes I'm loose_

_Let loose from the noose_

Daryl groaned.

"We've listened to this CD 7 times. I can't take it again. I swear to god, Merle, I 'm gonna throw it out the winda!" Daryl hit the eject button and the two got in a thumping war trying to control the radio.

Thumping Merle on the ear, Daryl barely swerved in time to miss the walker that stood in the middle of the road.

"See what ya almost did! We'd a been cleaning walker outta the grill for a week!" Merle hooted as Daryl grabbed the steering wheel with both hands.

Daryl looked in the rear view mirror at the walker and got a chill. The walker stood motionless in the middle of the road, watching them as they drove away. Something didn't feel right to him. Reaching over, he shut off the radio.

"What the hell?" Merle yelled but Daryl's face made him quiet down.

"Somethin's wrong." Daryl said quietly giving Merle a chill.

"Maybe we should pull off the main road. Find a town to stay in for the night. Hide the truck…and us." Merle said softly, like he was nervous too.

"Yeah. I think that's a good idea." Daryl said, starting to look for an exit. One thing he and Merle learned was to trust their instincts.

Merle saw it first and pointed.

"There!" He nearly shouted.

Daryl slowed down and turned off onto the exit, driving a couple miles down the road until they saw a town. It was creepy, deserted, with just a few stragglers wandering the streets. Daryl didn't have a good feeling tonight, and really didn't want to stop driving.

"Maybe we should keep going but take one of these highways through Nebraska instead of the interstate." Daryl suggested, looking over at Merle who seemed tense.

"You're givin' me the willies, little brother." Merle admitted, looking around.

Walkers never bothered him before but everything seemed to be in slow motion tonight. The walkers seemed to follow them with their eyes, watching them with an interest that wasn't normal.

Daryl looked as the gas meter. They had plenty of fuel and he definitely wasn't tired now so he stepped on the gas and kept on hauling.

"Get the map out. This is some sorta back highway heading north." Daryl stated, watching the road like an eagle.

"Yeah, I think it's Highway 10. We'll head north until we hit Highway 2, then head back west until Mason City. We can decide what to do once we get there. It's a decent sized town so it'll have supplies and I'm pretty sure Breed and his boys won't be there looking for us. They'll assume we kept on going down the interstate." Merle said, trying to make himself feel better.

Daryl nodded, feeling a little relieved, but they were still tense.

"So tell me about this girl." Merle said, trying to make idle chit chat. He wasn't brave enough to bring it up before there run-in with Breed, but after their near death experience, both of them seemed a little more tolerant of the other.

Daryl cocked an eyebrow at him.

"You've never given a shit before. Why you start askin' now?" Daryl snapped, suspicious of Merle's intentions.

Merle shrugged.

"I dunno. Just makin' small talk. 'Sides, if yer gonna marry this bi…girl, then I need ta know somethin' bout her." Merle snorted.

Daryl hadn't even thought about marriage. Shit, there wasn't anybody to left that could marry them.

"Whatcha wanna know?" Daryl asked cautiously.

"That bastard Govna was her old man, huh?" Merle asked, huffing in derision.

"Yeah. She ran away from 'im." Daryl answered, thinking back to the moment he'd found out that Rick had traded her back to that sick son of a bitch in order to get Daryl back.

"He beat 'er or somethin'?" Merle asked. He was still puzzled by the way she'd reacted to him in the shed and was looking for a reason. Most of the women he knew hid everything behind masks of anger or seduction. He'd never met someone so…raw. He just didn't know how to interact with someone like her.

"Toward the end, he went crazy, she said. He used ta be a good husband and father, then he got power hungry, went nuts, did all sorts of evil things." Daryl explained.

"So what happened after that?" Merle had never been smooth, but he really wanted to know what'd happened.

"I found 'er in the woods. She'd been beaten and raped by two inbred rednecks. They beat 'er so bad they nearly killed her. She's timid 'round people, especially men she don't know." Daryl decided to tell him the truth. If Merle had anything left of his soul, he'd have to feel something for her.

"Damn." Merle said in the closest thing to sympathy he figured he could muster.

"We were lucky we had Hershel. She was messed up real bad for a while." Daryl finished explaining, "Then, other stuff happened."

"Like what?" Merle prodded, more curious now than ever. He'd never been one that cared about other people's troubles but since she was gonna be family, he figured he outta know.

"I got captured by the Govna and she exchanged herself for me." Daryl cringed, remembering the moment he saw her being taken off by her father.

Merle frowned. He hadn't expected to hear that about her. Obviously, she was loyal to Daryl and she was brave enough to do that, and that counted for something in Merle's book.

"She talked Rick into using her to exchange. I didn't know 'bout it or I never woulda let them do it. By the time I found out, it was too late. Her daddy had her back." Daryl shivered at the thought.

"I remember some crazy bitch who slashed his wrist open in the infirmary going apeshit. That her?" Merle asked, thinking back to that night.

"Pro'lly. He did some bad shit to 'er but she escaped with the help of the doc." Daryl said quietly, remembering the poor woman whom he'd had to kill out of mercy.

"You're the one who shot 'er, huh?" Merle asked, putting two and two together.

Daryl was quiet for a minute.

"The doc? Yeah." He said softly.

Merle nodded. His brother wasn't as soft as he'd once thought.

"You done her a service." Merle stated, knowing that killing that woman didn't sit well with Daryl.

Daryl nodded, not wanting to talk about that.

"Then, this crazy ass inmate, serial killer from the prison butchered one of Hershel's girls and almost killed Kate too." Daryl finished.

Merle whistled, expressing his awe of the shit they'd all been through.

"Damn. Guess you're lucky she aint' fuckin' bat shit crazy." Merle said, trying to comfort Daryl as best as he could.

Daryl glared at him.

"You scared the shit outta her so bad she wouldn't talk, you know. She just laid there in a ball" Daryl accused, but then added, speaking softly, "That's when I fucked everything up."

"You're a Dixon. We fuck up everything." Merle said, commiserating with him, but then realized the words upset Daryl and tried to make it better, "At least you fuck up less than I do. That's somethin' ain't it?"

Daryl's sadness turned to dry amusement.

Merle was a fucking idiot.

##################################################################################

"I have to pee. Bad…as in, like a racehorse." Katelyn stated to the passenger of car she was riding in as she held her small baby bump, trying to lift it off of her bladder.

It wasn't working.

Maggie laughed at her comment and poked Daryl in the side.

"I heard ya. That's like the fourth time in three hours. You have the world's smallest bladder." Glenn teased as he flashed his lights to signal to the others that they needed to stop.

"I'm pregnant, you dork!" Katelyn yelled playfully, smacking Glenn in the back of the head.

He saw Rick pull over slowly, and get out of the car to stretch his legs, as Glenn pulled in behind him. Tyreese and the others were last to pull over. Though no one would admit it, they all appreciated the pregnant Katelyn for the frequent stretch breaks.

Rick shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and looked around the area. He saw three walkers off in the distance and pointed to the others so everyone would keep a watchful eye. A log house lay off the other way on the edge of a manmade pond and Rick wondered if they should check it out. Pointing at it, Rick motioned for Tyreese to look.

"We could check it out…stop there for the night if its clear." Rick offered, thinking that it might be nice to sleep in a bed for once.

They'd been traveling for four months, dodging herds, blocked roads, massive herds, and a series of illnesses that seemed to knock them all off their feet for a month, not to mention having to stop and scout for gas, supplies and lodging constantly. They'd basically meandered their way across the country like a slow winding river. They were in Colorado finally, on the eastern edge of it, and they swore they could smell the mountain air.

"We're gonna need to find some warm clothes. We need a town with a Wal-mart or a mall or somethin'" Rick stated, walking over by Tyreese to look at the house together.

"Yeah. It's getting' nippy. Snow could hit anytime now." Tyreese added, studying the landscape for possible threats.

"Whatdya think?" Rick asked.

"Let's go check it out." Tyreese agreed, heading back to the car.

Katelyn returned from peeing beside the road and climbed back in the car. Her back was sore and her legs were asleep, but all in all, she felt pretty good now that she wasn't puking anymore.

"We're gonna go check out that house." Glenn said as he trotted back up to the car.

Katelyn looked at where he was pointing.

A real bed!

"Sounds good to me!" She exclaimed as Glenn pulled the car in behind Rick's.


	2. Chapter 2

Katelyn awoke to the sound of motorcycle engines revving loudly. Sitting up in confusion, she saw lights shining through the window and then heard loud voices outside. Rushing over to the window, she peeked outside and saw twenty or so, men on bikes and pulled away from the window.

"Andrea!" Katelyn whispered, her voice near shouting.

Andrea sat up instantly, looking around to see Katelyn hurrying around the room, grabbing pants and shoes.

"Look out the window! Carol!" Katelyn rushed over to her to wake her up before hurrying across the hall to awaken Rick and the others.

When she got out into the hallway, they were already there, peering out the window.

"Everybody get dressed and get your guns. We've got trouble." Rick stated as everybody bolted for their weapons.

Andrea came out quickly, her gun strapped to her hip, and her machete strapped to her thigh. She had her emergency pack slung over her back just in case. Maggie and Glenn were just coming out of their rooms with their gear and Carol was bringing out the other packs.

Rick held up his hand for everyone to be quiet.

"Everyone's got a map in their packs. If something happens and we get separated, we'll meet up in La Forte. It's 30 miles northwest and out of the way. On Rt. 9, there's an old campground. No one can see it from the road and there's a high fence around it to keep deer from hopping it which means it might provide some protection from walkers." Rick told everyone as they started hearing hooting and hollering outside.

The group huddled together and began slowly walking down the stairs. Spreading out, they covered the windows and doors, watching to see what the bikers were doing. Rick could see the patches on the backs of their jackets and got a bad feeling.

This wasn't good.

There was a lot of noise from outside while the group inside waited with dread, then it got silent. Peering through the window, Rick could see a group of them coming toward the door and another group moving around back. Motioning for Tyreese to move toward the back, Rick then stacked the ammo box next to him on the table.

Calling out, Rick yelled through the door.

"I'm countin' twenty a you which is pretty darn near close to what we got. We ain't survived this long by being bad shots either and after running into that National Guard storage yard, we're armed plenty, so do yourselves a favor and turn around." Rick called through the door.

They heard someone laugh outside.

"You're driving mommy-mobiles that don't have the room for the kind of arsenal you're describing. Now why don't you open the door and let us take a look at your group. See if you've got who we're looking for. If you don't, then we'll be on our way…after you pay your taxes." A voice called from the other side of the door.

Rick looked down at his feet for a second, before yelling back an answer.

"You can test us if you want, but I think you'll find out that I don't bluff. I don't know who you're looking for, but our group ain't it. We're heading to Washington from the south and I ain't never met you folk before." Rick lied, so they wouldn't have any information.

"Well, we're lookin' for two boys from the south." The man called back.

"Not our boys. They been with us the whole time." Rick said, nodding at Glenn who was positioned with the sniper rifle.

"We don't want no trouble. We just wanted to rest, then be on our way." Rick finished.

"You come out and we'll look for ourselves, then you can pay and be on your way." They shouted back.

"We're not paying you shit. It might be a walker infested land, but its still the United States of America, son." Rick yelled, shifting his feet.

"We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Your choice." The voice said, after a pause.

Rick took a deep breath, motioning for everyone to get ready. He then nodded at Glenn and motioned for the group to crouch low so stray bullets didn't hit them.

Rick heard the shot and then saw the head of the guy he was talking with, explode.

All hell broke loose as gunshots exploded, glass went flying, and men started dropping outside. The group was besieged from all sides. Katelyn covered her ears as glass shattered right next to her. Hershel pushed her back against the wall so she was completely out of the way as he fired out the window, hitting one of the bikers in the leg.

Glenn and Michonne had the rifles and were picking off anyone they could see from the second story of the house. Tyreese had flipped the kitchen table on its side, hoping that the thick wood would provide some protection. Hiding behind hit, he poked his head up to shoot someone who was trying to come through the back door, hitting them in the face. His sister shot from the bathroom window which was high enough that they wouldn't be able to use it to climb inside. Standing on a stool, she shot two of the men outside before the third one dove for cover.

It quieted down for a minute, as the bikers regrouped, taking cover behind anything they could.

"Like I said. I don't want no trouble, but if you try to force the issue, we'll give it to you. We ain't worth your trouble though and it'd be to everyone's best interest if you'd just leave us in peace!" Rick called out, praying that they'd see reason.

He couldn't see what they were doing, but it was quiet outside.

"You killed one of ours and now you gotta pay!" He heard a voice yell from outside and he sighed.

"You tried to break into our house!" Rick called back.

"Don't matter now!" They shouted, and then started firing again.

He heard the window shatter somewhere and a yelp. Calling out to everyone inside the house, he was trying to figure out who'd been hit.

"Who's hit!?" He shouted, not looking away from the window.

"I am, but its not bad!" He heard Sasha yell from down the hall. "Just a graze!"

Rick nodded, feeling somewhat relieved, but then he heard a crash upstairs and a scuffle. Somehow, they'd climbed up to the roof and gotten into the house.

"Shit!" He swore, looking around the living room for someone to go check it out.

"I'll go." Carol said, and started to move up the stairs as another series of gunshots rang out. Carol was about to clear the landing so she could see what was going on, when a head came rolling toward her.

Screaming, Carol jumped, nearly falling down the stairs. She watched in horror as the head rolled, thudding on each step before finally coming to a rest at the bottom landing. Staring up at her was the face of an unknown man. Carol's face turned white and she began backing up the stairs, away from the head. She bumped into someone and turned, shrieking, to find Michonne standing there with her katana dripping with blood.

"Oh god." Carol moaned, trying to get ahold of herself.

Gunshots ripped the air again as they heard a door get smashed and a scuffle erupt from the kitchen. Michonne leapt down the stairs, racing to the kitchen. Rick was now firing at a small group of men who were hiding behind the group's cars, trying to suppress any move toward the house while the issue in the kitchen was being dealt with.

Tyreese had shot one man that came through the door and was now wrestling with another man. Just as large as him, the two crashed into the table before falling to the floor. Allen grabbed a knife from the butcher block and raced over to them. Waiting until he had a clear shot, he plunged the butcher knife into the back of the other man. Pulling it out, he stabbed him over and over again until they stopped moving. Unfortunately, he wasn't watching the door and didn't see the man rushing through it until he heard the gunshot and looked down at his chest to see a blossoming red stain spreading across his shirt.

"No!" Ben shouted, racing toward his father, catching him before he hit the ground.

Michonne acted fast, slicing her sword upward, severing the hands of the man holding the gun, then running him through the chest with her katana. Before the man dropped to the ground, Michonne then planted her hands on the counter and used both feet to kick him back out through the door.

All the men on the outside saw was their man run inside, only to come flying out backward, minus both hands and a penetrating chest wound that left him dead.

The men became spooked and took off running for the front to meet up with the others.

"If you walk away now, you'll be spared!" Rick shouted, trying to end the conflict, as Michonne slipped out the back door quietly to follow the men.

"Okay! Okay!" He heard them shout, as the gunfire died down.

"Get your bikes and get outta here!" Rick called out to them.

"We want our dead!" They shouted back.

"Ain't gonna happen!" He replied, snorting at their demand.

It was silent for a moment, then he saw a man moving slowly toward the bikes, his hands in the air. When he didn't get shot, others began to follow suit, climbing onto their motorcycles and starting them up. Turning the bikes around, they all started to pull out, but one stopped and turned to look back at them.

"You all are dead! You know that, right!? Breed'll hunt you down for this! He'll gut your babies while you watch, rape your women before he tortures them to death, and then he'll kill you slowly!" The man with the long brown hair called out eerily, causing the hair on the back of Rick's neck to stand up.

Then he turned and left.


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl and Merle spent the next few days driving back roads in an attempt to disappear. They didn't know what spooked them so bad a few days ago, but they were back in high spirits. Setting out on the road again, they noticed the black clouds up ahead and realized they were going to get snow.

"Great." Daryl muttered, eyeing the wind picking up the dust on the road and tossing it around.

"We gonna have ourselves a blizzard." Merle said, looking up at the sky.

"Damn store back in Mason City was empty. We gotta find a place ta get clothes or we're gonna freeze." Daryl said, grabbing the map from beside his seat.

"Sidney's gonna be the closest place with a store of some sort." Merle said, pointing at the location so Daryl could keep his eyes on the road.

"We're not far from it but that means we're back on the interstate again." Daryl said, watching the tumbleweed blow across the road in front of him.

"Yeah." Merle agreed, falling quiet at the prospect of dealing with Breed and his boys again.

Watching for the exit sign, Daryl noticed a large building up ahead off by itself. It looked like a store of sorts but he couldn't read the sign until they got closer.

Cabelas.

"Hot Damn!" Merle hooted excitedly. "We're in luck!"

Daryl smiled.

Turning off at the exit, Daryl cut across the field, coming out on the side road that led to it. Pulling into the parking lot, he barely got the truck parked before Merle was jumping out of it.

"Merle! Be careful you idiot! Make sure there's no walkers first! Damn!" Daryl called after him, shaking his head at his brother who was acting like a five year old.

Grabbing his crossbow, gun and knives, he strapped them on as he walked to the entrance. It only took a second to realize the place had been ransacked but since they were after clothes, anything extra would just be a bonus.

Merle and Daryl headed straight for the clothes, grabbing warm shirts, socks, and coats, right away. Throwing them into a cart, they grabbed a few other items like clean underwear, boots, and two arctic sleeping bags with blankets. They filled up on anything they could find that would make life easier on them before moving onto the weapons and ammo aisles.

Daryl saw the crossbows lining the top racks as models and got excited. Turning the corner, however, he came face to face with three walkers and scrambled backwards.

"Shit!" He yelled, grabbing his crossbow and firing a bolt into the first one. Reaching for another bolt, he nearly tripped over some boxes laying on the floor.

Merle came around the corner just in time, planting his machete in the head of the next one before cutting the head off of the one beside it.

"Thanks." Daryl muttered, kicking the offending boxes to the side. Grabbing his arrow from the walker, he moved to the counter where the ammo was stored.

It was obvious it had been raided but there was still some to be found; especially crossbow bolts. Grabbing as many as he could find, Daryl found a nice quiver and shoved them into it while Merle grabbed ammo. Emptying the counter of anything worthwhile, they decided that they had plenty of space for supplies and started loading up on anything they could find that would be helpful for survival. Knowing they planned on hooking back up with the group once they found them, they added extras just in case.

Backing up the truck to the entrance, Daryl noticed that the snow was officially blowing now and shook his head. He'd never get used to the cold.

Merle came out with the carts of equipment. Daryl hopped into the bed and helped him load stuff in. Packing everything in duffle bags and boxes, they used cables to tie everything down, then threw a tarp over the top, securing everything beneath it.

"You're worse than a woman." Merle muttered, looking at all the shit they'd taken.

"Never know when you'll need it. You'll be thanking me later on when you're freezin'." Daryl slugged Merle on the arm, the two started wrestling playfully.

Merle had Daryl pinned on the ground when Daryl swore he caught something out of the corner of his eye and he froze.

"You see that?" Daryl asked in hushed tones.

"I ain't fallin' for that." Merle said, pushing his head down to pin him.

"I ain't kiddin'. I saw somethin'." Daryl stated, shoving Merle off of him.

Merle stood up, letting go of Daryl and turned to search the area.

"I don't see nothin'." Merle said, shrugging it off.

Daryl was sure he'd seen something.

"All right. Let's get out of here. If Breed and his boys are on the road, they'd stop at a place like this easy." Merle said, swinging himself into the cab of the truck.

Daryl looked around one last time and climbed into the truck. Starting the engine, he pulled out of the driveway and back onto the road.

"Get the map out." Daryl told Merle once they were back on the road.

Peeking over at it, he knew that Rick and the others would head up through Kansas and pointed at a highway connecting to the interstate going south.

"That highway. That's where we need to go." Daryl said.

Merle looked at the map and nodded.

"385. The exit's right up there. Breed won't think we'd just turn south all of a sudden so it's a good route." Merle confirmed, folding up the map.

"Good." Daryl said, pulling out a package of elk jerky they'd gotten at Cabelas.

"I'mma nap." Merle said, adjusting himself to lean against the window.

"There's a pillow behind the seat." Daryl said.

Merle laughed.

"You're such a sissy boy." Merle stated, shaking his head at his brother.

"Fine. Suit yourself." Daryl shrugged.

About 3 miles later, Merle reached behind the seat and pulled the pillow out.

Daryl snorted.

"I'm a sissy?" He teased, laughing at his brother.

"The winda's cold." Merle made an excuse.

"Whatever." Daryl snorted, turning his attention back to the road while Merle snuggled up to his pillow.

##############################################################################

"How is she?" Katelyn asked, walking over to Sasha to offer a drink of the Rum they'd found beneath the kitchen counter.

"She'll be fine. Just grazed her." Hershel said as he finished wrapping her arm.

"I found these." Maggie said, handing Hershel a bottle of Percocet she'd found in the bathroom closet.

"Let me know if you need some." Hershel said, patting Sasha on the shoulder.

"It stings, but I'll be okay." Sasha said, stretching her arm.

Maggie smiled at her and nodded.

"We gotta go people. The cars are loaded and ready." Rick said, calling out to everyone in the house.

Carol and Katelyn carried the bedrolls and pillows down while Carl hefted the heavier things. Rick took the sleeping bags from Katelyn and smiled reassuringly at her.

"How you feelin'?" He asked gently, looking down at the small bulge of her stomach.

"Happy to be alive." She said, smiling back at him as she passed by.

Rick watched as everyone loaded up, thinking to himself that they'd just made an enemy and they were lucky to be alive.

He needed to find a place to hide them for a while and he thought of the campground.


	4. Chapter 4

They reached the campground during the middle of the night, making it difficult to see the best spot to camp. Turning in, they drove about a half a mile to a fork. As they turned left at the Y, their lights caught the reflection of two jeeps parked side by side. Rick stopped the car, leaving his brights shining on the vehicles and put the car in park. Tyreese drove the other SUV up beside Rick and did the same. The cars were left running and Ben slid over to take Tyreese's spot just in case, while Andrea took Rick's.

Pulling out their weapons, they slowly moved toward the Jeeps, flashlights sweeping the area, looking for signs of survivors or walkers. Approaching the Jeeps carefully, they shined their lights inside but saw nothing. Neither one had keys in them either, so whoever they were, they might be at one of the campsites. Rick stood, turning his flashlight into the tall grass and treeline, searching for signs of anyone.

Seeing the worn trails of campers that led to various campsites, Rick and Tyreese started down the closest one. They both heard the sound of voices talking at the same time and turned off their flashlights. Crouching low, they waited for the owners of the voices to move so they could see them.

They didn't have to wait long. After about a minute of patience, they saw four figures moving across the trail and into the treeline. Watching, they didn't see any others and since there were only two vehicles, there couldn't be that many people.

Rick decided to call out to them.

"Hey!" He shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth. "We don't want trouble. We're just here ta camp and rest for a bit!"

He didn't hear anything.

"I'm Deputy Rick Grimes! This here is Tyreese! We got a few more people with us back there!" He called out, hoping they'd show themselves. "We got food and water if you need some."

He waited a few moments before he saw one of them stand up and start walking toward them.

"Um, I'm Scott." He heard a young man's voice call out and watched intensely as he approached.

The youth stepped into the moonlight and Rick sighed with relief. The kid was obviously a college student or at least that age. He was tall, with a wiry build and had an open, honest face. Not that it meant anything. He'd met some bad guys who looked clean cut too, but this kid was obviously a college student.

Scott looked back behind him toward where his friends were hiding and waved them up.

"We, uh, when everything went down, we got the hell out of town and came out here." He said, as his three other friends approached.

Rick sized them up immediately. There were two other boys, and a girl. All of them were obviously the outdoorsy type; lean and muscular with hair that was somewhat shaggy and scruffy faces from the lack of shaving.

"This is Micah," Scott said, pointing to the black haired young man, "And this is Joe." Pointing to the sandy haired one.

"Julie is my girlfriend." He said as she walked up beside him.

Rick tipped his hat and said, "M'am," earning him a smile from her at his gentlemanly manners.

"I'm Rick Grimes and this is Tyreese." He said, offering a hand to each one of them.

"You're welcome to join us if you'd like." Rick stated, motioning back toward the cars.

The kids all looked at each other and began nodding.

"We're back at your vehicles right now. We're gonna move farther in and set up a camp." Rick said.

"We'll go pack up our camp and meet you up there." Scott said, seemingly relieved that they'd found another group.

"All right. We'll see you up there." Rick said, as he turned to leave.

Once on the trail, Tyreese turned to Rick.

"You think they're okay?" He asked, wondering why Rick was so inviting to them.

"Yeah. They're just kids. None of them had weapons on them either. They're walker bait if they don't figure out how to protect themselves. Besides, at this point, we could use the help." Rick explained, already thinking in his head about training them to fight walkers.

Tyreese nodded.

Arriving at the cars, they both hopped in and Rick started heading up the road a little further.

"Did you find anybody?" Andrea asked.

"Yeah. A group of college kids. No weapons. Lucky as hell to be alive." Rick stated.

"Shit." Andrea exclaimed.

"I invited them to join us." Rick replied.

Andrea was surprised but honestly, Rick had gotten them this far. She wasn't about to doubt him now.

They weaved through the campground, finally coming to a perfect spot near a large grouping of trees and a stream, toward the back. Parking the cars, they left the lights on so they could set up camp. Breaking out the equipment, they began building their tents while Katelyn and Carol started gathering wood for the fire.

Katelyn headed into the trees with Carol in tow, her flashlight scanning the path in front of her. Walking over to a group of fallen trees, they began pulling the dead branches out and dragging them back to camp one at a time. They went back a second time, going further down the path, when they were both startled by the dead eyes of a walker standing in the middle of the trail.

Screaming, they both started to back away, with Katelyn grabbing her axe just in case, but the walker merely turned slowly to look at them. Moaning, the walker staggered, nearly falling to the ground.

They heard the footsteps of Rick and Glenn behind them as they came running up but they stopped them before they killed the walker.

"What's wrong with it?" Katelyn asked, looking at the pitiful creatures as it tried to walk toward them.

"I don't know." Rick said, moving closer to it, his axe readied in his hand.

"It's hibernating." Madeline's voice startled all of them as she came up behind. "We saw significant slowing due to freezing temperatures, even stasis in some of them."

"Will it kill them?" Rick asked.

"No, but it does make it easier to kill them if they can't move." Madeline said.

Rick stepped forward and planted his axe in the walker's skull. Watching as it dropped to the ground, the group stood over it, wondering if they were actually going to find placed without walkers due to climate.

"The mountains. I wonder if there are even any there?" Katelyn wondered aloud.

"Good question." Madeline stated, before turning to walk back to camp.

Glenn stayed to help Carol and Katelyn just in case there were any more wandering around. Within twenty minutes, they had enough firewood and began to break out the packs so everyone could eat.

Stepping away from the campfire for a moment, Katelyn scanned the dark horizon, looking up at the stars. Sadness crept over her as she wondered where Daryl was. Putting both arms around her growing midsection, she closed her eyes and prayed.

_Please find us._


	5. Chapter 5

Daryl saw the gas station up ahead and turned into it. They'd tried the last three, but had no luck. He was hoping this one would have some gas.

Pulling over in front of the pump, he and Merle hopped out. Walking around to the back of the truck, he began unstrapping the cords when he heard something move.

"What the hell?" Daryl said, drawing Merle's attention.

Motioning for Merle to get the other side, they began unstrapping the tarp. Nodding his count, Daryl and Merle pulled the tarp off at the same time and prepared to attack, but they didn't see anything. Climbing into the truck bed, Daryl started moving stuff around to see if an animal had gotten inside. Sliding a box away from the back, he was startled suddenly when a pair of crystal blue eyes stared up at him.

"Come ere!" Daryl shouted, grabbing at the body that was now scrambling out of Daryl's grasp.

_Oof!_ Daryl grunted, getting kicked in the gut by the termagant.

The bundled body jumped over the edge of the truck, but didn't see Merle. Leaping from it, Merle was able to grab them midair, bringing both of them tumbling to the ground.

Daryl leapt over the side of the truck to help Merle wrangle the wild animal they'd found but when they started shrieking in terror, he pulled back. Even Merle went still. He didn't release them, just stopped moving and held tight.

Daryl crouched down, studying their captive. Covered from head to toe in snow gear, he couldn't tell the age or gender but he could tell they were scared.

"Hey. We're not gonna hurt ya." Daryl said softly, thinking back to his first meeting with Katelyn.

Daryl helped Merle stand them up so he could see the face inside the pile of coats. Merle held on though, not letting go while Daryl took hold of the furry hood. Pulling it back, he revealed the frightened face of a teenage girl with a hell of a shiner.

"You're freezing." He stated, taking in the blue lips and shivering.

Daryl sighed. He knew the look in her eyes and glanced at Merle who was at a loss as to what to do with her. Normally he'd be making nasty comments to her, but for once, he'd kept his mouth shut.

Daryl squatted down in front of her so he wasn't standing over her.

"You hiding from someone?" He asked, his eyes narrowing as he thought back to the people they'd talked to who had their girl's kidnapped.

She watched him warily, but didn't answer.

"You have any family still?" He tried again.

Tears welled in her eyes and Daryl let out a sigh.

"Sorry." He said, looking down for a second while he tried to think of what to do.

"I can't leave you stranded out here. You're gonna hafta come with us. We ain't gonna hurt ya, k?" Daryl said, looking up at her sincerely.

She blinked, looking around at the desolate landscape and drifts of snow and burst out crying.

"Aw, shit." Merle muttered. He hated it when women cried. It set his teeth on edge.

"You don't gotta cry. We're looking for our friends. We got separated from them. They got kids and families with 'em. You'd fit right in. They're good people." Daryl told her, moving Merle's hands from her arms so she didn't feel trapped.

She was terrified but had no other choice and Daryl knew it. Smiling reassuringly at her, he motioned for her to get in the truck. She hesitated for a minute but knew she was trapped, so she gave in.

"You might wanna take off some of that stuff. We got the heat runnin' so you're gonna get hot." Daryl said, making conversation to put her at ease. "We got warm clothes in the back if you wanna go change. There's bathroom's over there."

She looked toward the small station and sighed, watching Daryl rummage through one of the bags. Pulling out a flannel shirt, he tossed it to her.

She caught it and looked down at it.

"Thank you." She said softly before turning to walk toward the bathroom.

Daryl looked at Merle who rolled his eyes at him.

"What the hell you want me to do? Leave 'er?" Daryl asked, frustrated at the turn of events as well.

"Yeah." Merle said as he grabbed the siphon from the back of the truck.

"Hell no. I'm not leaving some poor girl stranded out here. Yur such an asshole." Daryl scolded, helping Merle fill the tanks.

The girl came back out of the bathrooms, holding her snowpants and coat in her arms. Daryl smiled as she approached, looking at her jeans and flannel and nodding approvingly.

"You can stuff your gear behind the seat in case you need it." He said, nodding toward the cab of the truck.

"The names Daryl. This is Merle." Daryl said, as he continued to fill the tanks.

"Sara." She said quietly, her eyes flitting away as she avoided eye contact.

"You hurt or is that shiner your only injury?" Daryl asked, trying to be nonchalant so she wasn't uncomfortable.

She crossed her arms over her body protectively.

"I'm not hurt." Was the only thing she said.

Daryl stared at her for a second, searching her eyes for the truth, before nodding.

_Whatever damage had been done, it was too late._ He thought to himself, swearing in his head as he thought of what Katelyn went through.

"Here. You can put the caps back on these for us." Daryl said, pointing at the caps for the extra tanks.

Sara moved quickly, grabbing the caps and screwing them on. She watched them out of the corner of her eye while she worked.

"Let's load 'em." Merle said, lifting two of them to the bed of the truck.

After they were done, Merle nodded toward the cab.

"Hop on in. You're gonna hafta sit in the middle." He said to the girl, frowning with irritation at playing "rescuer".

Sara looked at the truck, her face falling into a frown.

Daryl moved around to the driver side and Merle stood, waiting for the girl to crawl in. When she didn't move fast enough, he picked her up.

Squealing with fear, she quickly moved to the center.

"Leave 'er alone, Merle." Daryl chided, shaking his head at his brother.

"She's slow." Merle whined, climbing in after her.

Squeezed between the two men, Sarah tried to put as much space between them as possible but it wasn't working. Holding herself tightly, she sat ramrod straight.

"You look like you got a pole up yur ass, girl." Merle muttered, looking at her and thinking she was ridiculous.

"Merle!" Daryl snapped, glaring at his brother before starting the truck.

The engine muffled out Merle's response and they took off down the road.

They traveled for a good ten minutes before Merle couldn't take the awkward silence anymore and reached for the CD's.

"I swear if you put in that damn CD again, I'm gonna chuck it!" Daryl growled, causing Sara to look at him with startled eyes, but both brothers weren't even paying attention to her.

"Well I ain't puttin' in yur sissy shit." Merle snapped, digging through to find something they could both stand.

Sara almost smirked, and felt relieved that they were ignoring her.

"How 'bout a little KISS?" Merle suggested, puckering up his lips toward his brother.

Sara couldn't help it this time. She giggled and Daryl looked down at her.

"Fine. As long as you don't sing." He retorted, feeling a little more relaxed now that she wasn't so uptight.

"He breaks glass when he sings." Daryl informed her playfully.

"I do not! I have a fine baritone." Merle explained, beginning to sing in order to prove it.

"Oh god." Daryl groaned, shaking his head with annoyance.

Sara, however, relaxed, slouching into the seat a little, and listened to the two brothers bicker as they drove down the road.


	6. Chapter 6

Scott, Micah, Joe, and Julia slowly approached the rapidly assembling camp. Glenn motioned for them to park in a certain spot and jogged up to their Jeeps.

"Hey! I'm Glenn." He said, offering a hand to Scott who was pulling gear out of the back.

"I'm Scott, this is Micah, Joe, and Julia." He pointed at each one as he introduced them.

"Come on. I'll introduce you to everyone then help you unload and set up." Glenn said, leading them toward the busy campers.

Rick and Tyreese waved as they approached, trying to make them feel welcome. Carol walked toward them with a smile on her face.

"Hi. I'm Carol, and this is Maggie." She said, walking them around and introducing them to the whole gang.

"Where you guys from?" Julia asked, taking a steaming cup of coffee from Katelyn who offered it to her.

"Thank you." Julia said.

"Sure." Katelyn smiled at her.

"We're from Georgia originally." Carol answered.

"Georgia? Wow. You guys came far." Julia whistled wondering how they managed to make it this long. She had lost a lot of friends in this mess. People who tried to go find their families or tried to travel out and about. She didn't know where her family was, if they were alive, or dead.

"Yeah. It's been quite a trip." Katelyn said, putting her hands on her back to stretch her sore muscles.

"Oh my god. You're pregnant!" Julia saw the curve of her stomach and was dismayed.

Katelyn quickly covered her stomach back up and crossed her arms protectively over her midsection.

"Yeah." She said timidly, feeling shy all of a sudden.

"Sorry. I was just…surprised." Julia said, rushing to make her feel comfortable.

"Me too." Katelyn replied, chuckling.

Julia laughed, "I'll bet."

Katelyn smiled conspiratorily.

"So….which one is yours?" Julia whispered playfully.

Katelyn's smile faded.

"He's um, not here anymore." She replied.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Julia felt like an ass.

"No…I mean. He's alive, but we were…separated." Kate rushed to explain.

"Okay, I'm gonna stop talking now before I my entire leg is buried in my throat." Julia sighed.

"It's okay. Really." Katelyn said, putting her hand on Julia's arm and squeezing, trying to reassure her.

"Kate! Come grab your stuff. The cots set up and your bags there, but I'm not sure which bag is yours." Rick called out to her.

"Coming!" She called back, smiling once again at Julia before heading over to Rick.

Julia stood there watching her walk away.

Scott saw the frown on her face and headed over to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"She's pregnant." Julia whispered.

Scott followed her gaze toward the woman he'd been introduced to as Katelyn.

"Shit." He said, blowing out his breath. "That sucks."

"Can you imagine?" Julia said, feeling badly. She looked around at all of them…this group of survivors. She hadn't noticed it right away, but now she saw it; the frown lines, the exhaustion, and sorrow in their eyes. They'd suffered terribly.

Then she heard the cry of a baby and sucked in her breath.

_Oh my god,_ she thought.

Her eyes wide, Julia watched as Carl handed off the baby to Katelyn who offered to feed her. Katelyn shook the bottle with the formula in it before testing it on her arm. Holding it up to Judith's lips, she watched as Judith opened her mouth and began sucking on the bottle. Smiling, she stroked her soft cheek, watching the infant stare up into her eyes.

Soon, she'd have one of her own. It wasn't safe out on the road with an infant. She was going to have to find a place to settle down that was safe and if they couldn't find one, they would have to create one. Packing soothingly, she sang softly as everyone else finished preparing the camp.

Rick watched Katelyn and smiled. He was the first to admit that he struggled with the idea of Judith, often forgetting her needs in their desperate bid for survival. He was glad that Katelyn and Carol were here to help with her. He'd fall apart without them.

Searching Katelyn's face, he could see the genuine warmth and caring she had and knew she'd make a wonderful mother. He understood why Daryl fell in love with her.

Walking over to her, he reached out his arms to take Judith so she could get some rest. Smiling gently at her, he cradled Judith in his arms and turned his face to nuzzle her cheek.

"Thank you." He said softly to Katelyn who gently patted his arm before returning to her tent.

Looking around her tent, she saw the three cots set up and grabbed her sleeping bag and a fleece sheath. She slid off her boots at the door so she didn't track mud and snow all over the tent. Grabbing a pair of fuzzy sweat pants, she slipped out of her jeans, and pulled on her sweats. Sliding into the sheath, she hopped over to the cot, chuckling at herself. Sitting down on the end of her cot, she slid the feet end into the sleeping bag, then pulled it up toward her face.

_If they got attacked, she was screwed, but boy would she be warm tonight,_ she thought, as she closed her eyes and fell asleep within seconds.

#############################################################################

Daryl lay flat against the ground, binoculars pressed to his face as he scanned the highway ahead. From his vantage, he could see for a ways and it didn't look good. They had parked just behind a hill that dropped into a valley before flattening out into a stretch of highway. Thousands and thousands of walkers were roaming around, stumbling and falling all over the place. They seemed lethargic and uncoordinated, but Daryl didn't know why.

"Oh my god." Sara gasped when she saw them and started trembling.

"It's all right. They ain't movin' fast enough to cause us any trouble. Somethin's wrong with 'em." Daryl assured her, looking at her for a second to make sure she wasn't panicking, before turning to view the herd again.

"Well, we can't go through 'em." Merle said, sighing in disappointment.

"We're gonna hafta go around." Daryl finished, putting the binoculars down and scooting backwards before standing so the walkers wouldn't see him.

Offering a hand to Sara, he helped her up and they all got back into the truck.

"My turn!" She called out, grabbing the CD's she'd found in someone's car alongside the road a ways back. Hopping into the truck, she tuned the keys and popped her favorite CD in.

"Ah hell na!" Merle whined. He didn't think he could take another goddamn minute of Bruce Mars…or Bruno Mars…whatever the hell his name was. It made his teeth hurt.

"It's my turn! You got to listen to that crap ABCD or whatever its called." Sara shot back.

"AC/DC little girl…and it ain't crap! It's classic." Merle argued, as Daryl got behind the wheel and paused with a frown.

"You mean old." Sara laughed.

"What the hell? It can't be her turn already." Daryl complained.

"See! I told ya we shoulda left her!" Merle yelled.

Daryl groaned and started the car.

_Easy come, easy go  
That's just how you live, oh  
Take, take, take it all  
But you never give  
Should've known you was trouble  
From the first kiss  
Had your eyes wide open  
Why were they open?_

Merle started howling the words along to the tune, changing them on purpose.

_I would throw a grenade at you_

_Chop your head with a blade for you_

_Throw you in front of a train for you_

_You know I'd do anything for you_

_Now I'm writhing in all of this pain_

_Put a bullet straight through your brain_

_Yes I'm gonna die for you baby_

_And now you'll do the same_

"Really?" Daryl said, looking at his brother incredulously.

Merle grinned wickedly.

"I call it my 'Walking Dead Remix'". Merle stated proudly.

"You've just dropped to a whole new level of suck." Daryl said, shaking his head at his brother.

"Unbelievable."


	7. Chapter 7

Michonne stalked the campground, checking every nook and cranny to make sure they were alone. Using the binoculars, she could see a couple of houses in the distance but nothing else but trees and the cold windy plains for miles. She didn't like this area, it provided very little ability to escape and hide.

Moving back down the road, she saw the college kids dragging wood behind them and approached.

"Oh hey!" Julia called out. The "swordwoman" as they liked to call her, made them nervous. She never smiled, had no problem staring at them, and didn't speak much.

Michonne nodded at them, sheathing her katana in order to grab ahold of some of the wood they were dragging. Marching back to camp with them, she tossed the wood into the pile before going to find Rick.

"I don't think this is a good place to stay. No cover." Michonne said tightly.

"I'm a little nervous about moving the group with Breed's gang out there. They've had enough time to send word and return to the area and we're only 30 miles away." Rick explained.

"Exactly. We're 30 miles away. We need to put some distance between us." Michonne reasoned with him.

Rick sighed, looking over at Tyreese who was walking their way.

"What d'you think Tyreese? Should we move? We could always head north and then west, but we're going out of our way." Rick asked.

"I think she's right about the lack of cover. This isn't a great place for a possible escape." He confirmed.

Rick nodded.

"All right. Let's gather everyone together." Rick said, looking around at the campers.

It only took a few minutes to gather everyone.

"We're a little worried about our lack of cover but we can't head back south cause Breed might be there, so we're thinkin' to head north a bit, then travel back west. What d'ya think?" Rick asked, looking around to each member of the group.

The college kids stood back a ways, but listened.

"I think Rick's right. This isn't a good place to stay." Andrea agreed.

Katelyn stayed quiet, her heart pounding at the thought of moving farther away from Daryl. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself but tears sprang to her eyes.

Sometimes it was hard to keep hope alive and every day she felt it getting farther and farther away. Turning away from the group, she ducked back into the tent and buried her face in her pillow so no one would hear her, but everyone saw.

Andrea sighed, looking at Rick and Hershel, before starting to clean up camp. Carol headed for the tent to try to talk to Katelyn.

"I'm sorry Katelyn." Carol said softly.

"I should've stayed so he could find me. He has no idea where we are. He could be anywhere. What if I never find him again?" Katelyn crumpled onto the bed, sobbing.

Carol rushed over to sit down next to her and put her arm around her.

"Daryl Dixon is the best tracker in the country. He'll find you." Carol assured her, even though she knew how slim the chances of that were. She was worried about Kate and the baby.

Katelyn couldn't keep it together, however, and just laid down, pulling the blanket over her and cried. Carol sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do, and began packing everything within the tent.

After folding the last thing and putting it in the bag, she nudged Katelyn gently.

"Come on sweetheart. We gotta take the tent down. Rick's got a spot for you outside." Carol prompted.

Kate opened her eyes and looked up at Carol sadly.

She knew what she had to do.

Getting up, she folded her fleece sleeve and rolled up her sleeping bag. Grabbing her boots, she laced them up and put them on, before heading out of the tent.

Carol frowned as she noticed the strange look on Kate's face and followed her out.

Katelyn walked over to Rick and sat down, watching everyone packing up the cars. Rick glanced over at her and paused.

She didn't look right.

Walking over to her, he squatted down in front of her.

"You okay?" He asked gently, knowing she'd been crying.

Katelyn looked Rick in the eyes.

"I'm not going with." She stated.

Rick frowned. That wasn't what he'd expected her to say.

"Honey, you gotta come with. You can't be out there on your own." He tried to reason with her.

"The farther we go off the interstate, the less chance Daryl has of finding us." She nearly shouted, her panic over never seeing him again sinking in.

Rick exhaled.

"We just don't have a choice, sweetheart. We can't risk Breed and his gang finding us so we've gotta get off the interstate." Rick explained.

"I don't care!" She shouted, looking Rick in the eyes, her face filled with fury.

At this point, Andrea and the others stopped what they were doing to listen to the drama unfold. It made them all sad. They knew exactly what was going on and there was nothing they could do to stop it. They'd seen the grief and desperation in Rick when Lori died and knew that look well. Carol stood watching with her hands covering her face in horror.

"I know you think you don't, but right now, you gotta think about your baby…Daryl's baby. If something happened to you, he'd never forgive himself, would he? You don't want him having to live with that." At this point, he'd use a little emotional blackmail if it would get her in the car. He knew she wasn't rational and he recognized the look in her eyes as one that stared him back in the mirror every morning, but he wasn't gonna let her jeopardize her safety.

"We can leave another note here for him so if he finds it, he'll know you were here." Rick told her, hoping it would be enough.

But Katelyn shook her head, her eyes wide with pain and rebellion.

Rick hung his head and sighed. He really didn't want to have to manhandle her to get her into the car, but he would if he had to. He looked up as Tyreese started slowly walking toward them. Andrea's gaze fell on him and she realized this was about to get ugly. She remembered when Rick tried to get her to bury her sister and she'd pulled the gun on him. She knew his intentions were pure, but she couldn't help but feel for Katelyn.

Rick stood, motioning for everyone to finish loading up. He wasn't going to force her into the car until everyone was ready to go. Moving away from her a little bit, he directed Carl to load the tents into the SUV's.

Andrea motioned with her head that she wanted to talk to Rick so he followed.

"You gonna force her to go?" Andrea asked, looking at Rick intensely.

"You don't think I should?" He asked.

Andrea took a deep breath.

"Yeah. In this case I do. She's not thinking straight, but maybe a few of us should go and look for signs of Daryl." Andrea offered.

"We can't risk it yet. Once we're settled, we can go back. He knows we'd be coming up through Kansas so he's bound to be covering our trail…if…and it's a big if…Daryl Dixon ever came back to the prison." Rick said quietly not wanting Katelyn to overhear.

"He did. He was gone over her." Andrea stated confidently.

"You sure?" Rick asked.

"Yeah. There's no way that boy'd leave her out there in the world alone. It'd drive him insane." Andrea chuckled at the thought of Daryl Dixon in love.

Rick nodded. It wasn't that he doubted, it was just that the world had gone nuts and he needed a little affirmation.

"We head to Limon and find a place to hole up there. Once we're settled, we can start poking around the interstate lookin' for 'im. We gotta figure out a secret message we can leave on the interstate that Breed won't understand." Rick said, making a plan in his head.

"We'll work on it. It'll keep Kate busy and maybe even give her some hope." Andrea said, looking at Katelyn.

"What about the college kids?" Andrea asked as an afterthought.

"We invited 'em. They said they're thinking 'bout it." Rick stated

Andrea nodded and went back to packing.


	8. Chapter 8

In the end, Rick told Katelyn the plan and had her start working on a code that Daryl would understand but Breed wouldn't. Andrea, Maggie, and Glenn worked on it in the car as they drove. The college kids decided they didn't want to go anywhere so the groups parted. Rick left them a few handguns and some ammo, along with hand axes for each and some knives, and taught them about how sound draws the walkers.

They were about twenty miles away from the camp, driving north on Highway 385, when they turned a sharp corner coming face to face with an enormous herd of walkers milling about on the road. They had never seen anything like it. They seemed to go on for miles. For a moment, Rick was frozen, overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, but quickly skidded to a halt.

"They're slow. What's wrong with them?" Andrea asked, watching them mill about aimlessly. They didn't even seem to be interested in the vehicles and were stumbling over each other.

"The one at the campground. It was the same." Rick said, watching them. The walkers began to turn, looking at the caravan before beginning to walk with rickety disjointed steps, toward them.

"Look how many there are." Michonne exclaimed, shaking her head, her eyes wide as she watched them.

"They're coming this way." Andrea whispered, hoping Rick would turn around, but he just sat staring at them.

"Rick! They're coming!" Andrea said louder.

Rick began to turn around, giving the other cars room before speeding off a few miles back the way they came and pulling over. Getting out of the car, Rick met Tyreese at his window and motioned for Glenn.

"That herd had to have thousands." Glenn said, jogging up to them.

"Yeah, and they're headed west. The same way we're heading." Rick said, letting out a pent up breath.

Madeline stood behind Rick, chewing on her lip.

"We don't have a choice though. We have to make it Colorado Springs." Madeline said, all her hope resting in the idea that NORAD would have been protected from the outbreak since it was sealed within Cheyenne Mountain.

Rick nodded as everyone else got out of the car to gather.

"All right. Here's what we're going to do. Get the map." He looked at Glenn, waiting for him to hand it to him.

Looking over the map, he planned a route that wouldn't force them back onto the interstate where Breed's gang was probably searching for them.

"Highway 36 will keep us going west where we can meet up with Highway 71 and head to Limon then onto the Springs." Rick said, pointing out the route.

Glenn nodded, pulling the map toward him to memorize the ways in and out.

"Okay." Glenn said, handing it back to him.

"All right, let's get back on the road. It's safer to travel during the day." Rick said, moving back toward the cars.

Not noticing that they were being watched, they loaded back up in the car and began heading down the road.

The lone figure waited until they were out of sight before pulling their motorcycle out from behind the tree. Pullling out his walkie talkie, he pressed the button.

"Come in, Breed. This is Juke. I got 'em. They're heading north on 385 and will be turning west on 36 to South 71 to Limon." Juke said.

"Juke, this is Breed. You said Limon?" The voice on the walkie asked.

"That's an affirmative. South on 71 to Limon. We can catch 'em before they get to the Springs." Juke said, snickering with delight.

"We'll set up a roadblock on Highway 24, just outside of Limon. I'll put some guys in Limon to watch 'em. Meet you there." Breed told Juke, before Juke put his walkie away and climbed back onto his bike.

He'd be rewarded for sure.

################################################################################

"Hey, little brother. I wanted to talk atcha." Merle said awkwardly as he approached Daryl who was grabbing supplies from the convenience store they'd stopped at.

"What?" Daryl was taken aback. Merle seemed serious and this was unlike him.

"What happens when we meet up with the group?" Merle asked, wondering if Daryl had thought that far ahead.

Daryl turned to look at him. He knew exactly what he was asking. He didn't know exactly what had happened in the shed with Katelyn since she didn't say anything, but there was no way that she was going to be okay with Merle around. When Daryl and Merle had first hooked up again, he wanted to kill him, but something in him just couldn't do it. Merle was a complete asshole, but he was the only family Daryl had left and he, in his own way, had spent his life protecting Daryl. Merle's view of the world was twisted beyond recognition, but something in him changed that day with Governor.

He didn't know what to do with him now. They'd been through a lot together during their lifetime and he loved him…and hated him.

Daryl turned and looked at Merle square in the face, his eyes intensely penetrating as if he could look into Merle's soul, and asked, "Were you gonna kill 'er?"

Merle dug his foot into the dirt uncomfortably, avoiding Daryl's gaze. He had always been the dominant one. The older brother who knew all the answers, but now, he realized that he didn't have any. He had done the best he could in his life, but he'd made a lot of mistakes and this might be a mistake he could never undo, but ironically, it was the only one he ever cared to undo.

"Maybe." He answered honestly.

Daryl turned and looked out on the horizon, his face heavy with concentration.

"I grabbed her and dragged her in the shed. I wanted to talk to her about you and her. She just…just freaked and I panicked. I didn't know what to do. She passed out or somethin' and I rolled her up in the tarp. I didn't have a plan…didn't know what I was gonna do with 'er, but I knew the whole thing looked bad." Merle tried to explain.

Daryl didn't say anything.

"I thought she was just a piece 'a ass. Hell, I've never been in love. I didn't think you…I just wasn't thinkin'." Merle stopped, knowing there was nothing he could say that would make this better.

Daryl nodded and turned to leave, but was stopped by Merle grabbing his arm. Daryl turned back to look at him.

"I'm fucked up. I know that. I ain't good for nobody, but I love ya. Yer ma brother. Yer all I got. I know it ain't the same between us, but if she can forgive me…can you?" Merle came as close to begging as Daryl had ever seen. He felt his heart beating fast. He didn't know the answer to his question so he answered him honestly.

"I don't know." He said quietly before turning and going back to the truck.


	9. Chapter 9

They pulled off to the side of the road right at the Limon exit to make a plan. They didn't know much about the city, so they were debating a scouting trip before entering but were nervous about splitting up.

"Michonne and I can go." Glenn offered, having already talked to her about going with him. She was the one person he didn't worry about slowing him down and she was quiet and handy as hell in a pinch.

"I'm not sure splittin' up is a good plan." Rick said, scratching his head.

"Well, I can already see a couple of stores and some restaurants from here. It looks like there's a Wal-mart of Home Depot or somethin' up there." Glenn said, using the binoculars to scan the edge of the city.

Rick paused for a second to think. If they could get inside a Wal-mart, they could park at the loading docks and use the warehouse area as their base for now.

"All right. Either store is fine. Check it out and see how many walkers there are in the area and inside. I'd like to use the stock area in the back as a base because we can bring the vehicles inside and have our own exit and entrance if we need it." Rick said, thinking about how to protect the group.

"All right." Glenn nodded, loading his gear up. "We'll take the station wagon. It's the smallest car anyways."

Rick nodded and helped him clear out the equipment except survival packs for both of them in case of an emergency.

"We'll wait for you over there." Rick pointed at a small housing development where they could hide the cars in case Breed's people were around.

"See you in a while." Glenn said as he and Michonne climbed into the car and started driving toward the city.

They drove slowly, watching the roads carefully for any living or dead. They passed many of the rickety walkers as they ambled about, stumbling over their own limbs. Michonne even saw a few that seemed frozen, moving nothing but their heads as they slowly turned to watch them drive by. They pulled up into the parking lot of the Home Depot and drove around to the back to the loading area. Glenn noted the fenced in area they had quartered off for the greenhouse and the ramp for loading and unloading the dock in the back.

"Over there." Michonne pointed at an area where they could drive into the warehouse itself after they found a way to open the door. Parking close by, he and Michonne grabbed the bolt cutters and walked toward the back door. It was locked, but Glenn realized that there had to be a door somewhere that was open so they moved around to the front.

A few stray walkers moved about, one even started making its way toward them but tripped over the curb, and fell to the ground. Michonne watched it in fascination as it tried to stand again, but gave up and started dragging itself across the snow dusted grass toward them.

"Here!" Glenn called, prying open the automatic doors with a crowbar.

Michonne and Glenn moved quickly, entering the store, then turned and shoved the doors shut. Quickly looking around, he saw no one, realizing that the store had probably been locked up since no one came to work.

"Let's go aisle by aisle." Glenn said and Michonne nodded, her katana ready in case they needed it.

It took an hour to clear the front of the store before the two of them made their way to the back area where they found two entrances into the stock warehouse. Entering, they saw stacks of crates and boxes and began meandering their way through, clearing it of any danger.

It was completely empty.

Heading to the back, Glenn found the truck entrances and pulled the chain to the lower dock so they could drive the trucks inside.

"Found a remote!" Michonne yelled to Glenn as he drove the station wagon insde.

"Good!" Glenn called, stopping the car. "Let's go back and get everyone before it gets dark. We're gonna need to clear this completely and Rick's gonna want to check it himself."

Michonne nodded and the two headed back to round up the group.

#################################################################################

Daryl and Merle heard the motorcycle behind them and pulled off behind a barn. The driver hadn't seen them, they realized, as it sped by. Daryl recognized his jacket right away.

"Shit!" He swore, earning him a startled look from Sara.

"One of Breed's boys?" Merle asked, a sinking feeling hitting his stomach.

"Yup." Daryl answered, pulling out behind him. Looking over at Sara who was awfully quiet, he knew that she had heard of him and wasn't too pleased either.

"I say we catch up and run him off the road." Daryl said, looking at Merle.

Merle nodded.

"We better get him before he meets up with the others though." Merle added and Daryl put his foot on the gas pedal, pushing it all the way to the floor.

Sara looked scared and a worried expression crossed her face.

"You know him?" Daryl ventured, knowing that he wasn't going to like the answer he got.

Sara nodded, tears springing to her eyes.

Daryl nodded.

"He the one that gave you that shiner?" Daryl asked.

"No. One of his gang." She answered, shivering at the thought.

Daryl took a deep breath, focusing on the road ahead. He could just make out the cycle up ahead now and was hoping they'd sneak up on him but the truck just wasn't fast enough. They'd have to tail him until he stopped, then Daryl could use his cycle to catch up and shoot him.

The three paced behind him, keeping back far enough that he was unlikely to see them, until the evening came and he disappeared. Pulling over, Daryl unloaded his motorcycle and strapped a couple of their guns to him and a shotgun in the cradle of his saddlebags.

"Just keep coming up behind us. By the time you catch up, he'll be dead hopefully." Daryl said, looking at Merle.

"All right, little brotha. Be careful." Merle was actually worried about him but knew they needed to get rid of this guy and it was their only way.

Daryl climbed on his bike and looked back at Sara.

"You stick with Merle. He'll keep you alive. If somethin' happens ta me, you two find the group and Sara, you go with them. Ask for Katelyn and stay with her. Tell her who you are and that you were with me." Daryl said, feeling a wave of sadness wash over him at the thought of not ever seeing Katelyn again.

Sara nodded rapidly. She liked Daryl. She trusted him. He was a good guy and she knew she was safe with him. She felt sad as she watched him ride off.

"Come on, little sis." Merle said, slugging her in the arm playfully before hopping in the truck to follow behind.

Daryl pushed his bike as fast as it would go, until he saw the taillights of the other cycle. Pulling up behind, he saw the guy look back, then slow up. In the dark, it was obvious that he was on a motorcycle and the guy probably thought it was one of Breed's men.

His mistake.

The guy slowed down and pulled over, waiting for Daryl who pulled up beside him.

_BAM!_ The gunshot cracked through the air as the bullet ripped through the flesh of the guy's leg. Daryl didn't want to kill him yet because he wanted information.

Stalking over to the guy who lay on the ground underneath the cycle, he stood over him with the gun in his hand.

"Hi there." Daryl said, kicking the guy's hand as he tried to reach for his gun.

"You got some talking to do." Daryl said menacingly as he squatted down next to the guy's head.

"What…what d'you want?" The man blubbered, spit running down his face.

"You work for Breed?" Daryl asked quietly.

The man nodded, but Daryl wanted him to speak so he kicked him again.

"Y…yeah." He answered, crying now.

Daryl heard the truck pulling up behind him and motioned for Merle.

"Stay in the truck." Merle said, knowing this could get ugly.

Sara nodded, afraid to watch the scene unfold.

"Well, well, well. Who do we got here?" Merle asked as he walked over to his brother.

"J…Juke." The man answered, babbling now.

"What the hell kind a name is that?" Merle asked dramatically.

"Now my brother here's my…interrogation specialist. You answer my questions and he won't hafta ask them." Daryl said, threatening the idiot who lay on the ground.

"Okay….okay." Juke agreed, shaking with fear.

"Where's Breed's base of operations?" Daryl asked.

"Burlington. He's in Burlington now." Juke answered.

"How much area does your little gang cover?" Daryl asked, wanting to know how far he reached.

"He's got Nebraska…and the northern part of Kansas, and the southern part of South Dakota. He's b…big. Real big." Juke babbled, almost incoherent now.

"So whadda ya doin' out here in the sticks?" Daryl asked him.

"I was followin' a group a people that killed some o' ours." He answered.

Daryl looked at Merle for a minute.

"Describe 'em." Daryl said heatedly now, his heart starting to pound.

"They…they got an accent like yours. They drivin' two big black SUV's and a wagon. They got lots of firepower with 'em." He answered.

Daryl took a deep breath trying to calm himself.

_Was it possible?_ He couldn't help but wonder.

"You get a name?" Daryl asked pointedly.

"N..no. We got into a fight back on the interstate. They were holed up in a log house and they shot their way out. Killed half the group that found 'em and wounded a bunch more. B…Breed wants 'em now. They settin' up an ambush in Limon. They're on their way to the Springs….please don't kill me. I won't tell Breed I saw you." Juke begged.

Daryl let out his breath, feeling excitement for the first time.

"Unfortunately, we don't have that choice. You might tattle on us and we can't risk that. Sorry." Daryl said, standing.

He aimed the gun at Juke's head, took a deep breath and fired.

Juke died instantly.

Daryl raced to the car and jumped in. All he could think about was Katelyn getting ambushed by Breed and his people.

With shaking hands, Daryl started the truck again and peeled out, going as fast as he could to get to Katelyn in time.


	10. Chapter 10

The warehouse had been the perfect place to stay overnight and Rick was loathe to leave it, but they had to get to Colorado Springs. Once they got there, they could get Madeline delivered and go about finding Daryl. Looking over at Katelyn, he noticed how pale she was and realized that she was fading.

"Come on everybody. Let's load up!" Rick called, gesturing for everyone to get in the cars. He waited for Hershel before pulling him aside.

"I'm worried about Katelyn. She doesn't look right." Rick whispered, nodding toward her.

Hershel looked at Katelyn as she climbed slowly into the SUV and sighed. He'd been thinking the same thing.

"I'll keep an eye on her. We need to get somewhere safe and settle in." Hershel said.

"We need to find Daryl." Rick replied, knowing that Katelyn was barely hanging on at this point.

Climbing into the SUV's, they began driving, turning onto the side streets to avoid the majority of the walkers. Heading south, they pulled out onto one of the main streets. That's when Tyreese noticed movement behind and began slowing down a bit. Rick noticed, pushing on his brakes. Tyreese kept an eye on his rear view mirror, seeing movement again and flashed his lights. Rick turned on his walkie.

"Hey. We got movement behind us. I think it was a motorcycle." Tyreese said over the walkie.

"All right. Sit right here for a minute, I'll circle around back and see if there's anything." Rick said.

Rick turned the corner and sped down the street, circling back around the block to come up behind them by a few blocks. Slowing down, he saw a man on a motorcycle holding a walkie in his hand. Gunning the SUV, Rick headed straight for him.

"Hang on!" Rick said, flooring the pedal.

The man on the bike didn't see him until it was too late. He tried to shoot out of the way, but Rick was already on top of him, hitting the back end of his bike, and sending the rider flying. Skidding about twenty feet, he rolled, over and over, until he came to a stop at the feet of a group of slowly moving walkers.

Rick squealed the tires, he peeled out backwards so fast. Hanging out the window, he pulled his gun, aiming it for the biker who was struggling to get up. Squeezing off two rounds, Rick hit him first in the leg, then in the head as the walkers struggled to their knees for their dinner.

Watching, Andrea, Rick, and Carl cringed as the walkers began to feast.

Rick glanced around, looking to see who else was watching. That's when he saw movement on the roof and pointed. Andrea quickly pulled her gun, while Rick grabbed the walkie.

"It's Breed. They've got some sort of ambush planned. We just took out one but they're on the roofs. We're coming back to you." Rick said as he took off down the street again toward Tyreese and Glenn's cars but then they heard a gunshot and the tire exploded sending them sideways into a storefront and through the window, stopping only when they hit the back wall of the store.

##################################################################################

Tyreese heard the gunshot and everyone started looking around. Motioning for Glenn to follow, he turned the corner, following Rick's trail. It was too late for him to notice the road spikes that had been sprinkled across the street and when they hit them, the tires exploded, sending them careening into a parked car. Glenn skidded to a halt behind them, narrowly avoiding the spikes. Hearing gunshots, he spun out, turning sharply before speeding toward an alleyway across the street. Racing down the alley, he saw a couple of people running on the rooftops and knew they were in trouble. Flying out of the alley, he pulled the emergency break so he could spin quickly, before releasing it again and shooting the opposite way.

Looking in the rear view mirror, he could see someone on the roof with a rifle but it was too late. The glass in the back window exploded sending shards of glass flying through the air. Katelyn screamed as she felt the chunks of glass hit her in the back. Grabbing her head, she ducked down in the back seat as Glenn turned sharply, sending her sprawling against the seats.

"Get your seatbelt back on!" Glenn yelled, seeing her go tumbling forward.

"Watch out!" Maggie screamed, grabbing her gun and rolling down her window. Waiting until she saw someone pop out again, she watched while Katelyn scrambled to put her seatbelt back on.

Glenn was trying to drive back toward where Rick and Tyreese were but the area was covered with snipers and road spikes. They would have to go back on foot in order to help.

"There's a parking garage." Katelyn said, pointing at the structure across the way.

Glenn shot across the street toward the parking garage, turning sharply inside, he found a spot between some other cars that would hide theirs.

"All right. Kate, you gotta stay here and hide. Maggie, you stay with her. I'm gonna go back and help." Glenn said, grabbing his survival pack, rifle and handgun.

"Maggie, you should go too. They need you. They're not going to come in here when they think all of us are there." Katelyn rationalized, knowing they needed every gun they could get.

Glenn looked at Katelyn and nodded. She was right, he just didn't like it.

"All right. You've got gear in the back if you need it. A box of ammo for your handgun, a rifle and a shotgun. You've got your hatchet and you've got a map, food and water in your pack. If something happens, you head for Colorado Springs. Just take a weird route." Glenn ordered.

"I'll be all right you guys. You worry about them." Katelyn assured them.

Maggie hugged her, then she and Glenn raced off.

Katelyn scooted out of the car, shoving the keys in her pocket and opening the back end. She grabbed her emergency pack which had a bedroll and thermal gear in it just in case. Sliding into her parka, she slung the pack on her back and took the guns. She was a bit awkward with her belly getting in the way, but she'd manage. Right now, she wanted to get to the top of the parking garage and get on the roof so she could see. Unzipping her parka, she grabbed the binoculars and headed up the ramp to the top.

As she reached the stairwell that led up to a locked door, she heard more gunfire. The shots were in multiples going back and forth so she knew they were in a firefight. Grabbing the axe from her pack, she began hacking at the doorknob, eventually knocking it off, leaving the door swinging open. Heading through, she turned and pushed the door shut with her foot and wedged her axe in the crack so it wouldn't open again.

Heading up, she could feel the snow falling on her head and pulled the hood of her coat up so she'd stay warm. Heading to the edge of the roof, she laid down as best as she could with her stomach in the way and pulled her binoculars up.

She immediately saw about five bikers moving around on the rooftops and thought maybe she would hit them with her rifle. She had a nice scope on it making it hard to miss if they were standing still. Pulling it out, she used the edge of the roof as a stand and lined up the crosshairs with one of their backs. Taking a deep breath like Daryl taught her to do, she aimed, let her breath out slowly and squeezed the trigger.

The man dropped instantly.

Katelyn shrank behind the ledge, hiding so they wouldn't see her. After another burst of gunfire from below, she lined up another man, put his back in the crosshairs and squeezed.

She hit him in the shoulder, dropping him to the ground but not killing him. Waiting to see if she could shoot him again, she caught a glimpse of his head and lined it up. Not waiting, she squeezed the trigger instantly, hitting him in the neck. She missed his head but saw the explosion of blood and ducked, feeling sick to her stomach.

"Rick, do you copy?" She heard Glenn's voice on the walkie even through the static.

"I copy." Rick answered amidst another shower of gunfire.

"Pinned down at the moment." Glenn stated nervously.

"Me too." Rick answered.

"Maggie and I are making our way to you. We hid our supplies so we could get them later." Glenn stated, hoping that Rick would get that Katelyn wasn't with them.

"Copy." Rick said after a pause, as if he figured out what they meant.

"Got Tyreese?" Glenn asked.

"No. He's across the way though. We're hearing his gunfire not far from us." Rick answered.

"Copy. We'll be there soon." She heard Glenn say as she watched two more bikers heading slowly toward where Rick must have been pinned down. They'd kept quiet so Rick didn't know they were up there.

Lining up one of the targets, she was hoping that even if she didn't hit them, she'd warn Rick about them being up there. Waiting patiently for a good shot, she squeezed off the trigger, hitting one in the back of his knee, dropping him. The other one, however, spun to look behind them on the roofs before he dove behind one of the electrical boxes on the roof.

Within seconds, a shot chipped the cement on the ledge a few feet from her and she shrieked in surprise. Pulling herself back down, she knew that he'd spotted her location. Backing away from the ledge slowly, she knew she needed to move. Moving carefully to the stairs, she hurried down them, removing the axe she'd used as a wedge and headed for the car.

She'd seen a street of houses behind the strip mall and decided to disappear into those to hide. Throwing her coat and gear in the trunk, she strapped her handgun to her thigh and hopped behind the wheel to start the car. Quickly pulling out of the stall, she sped down to the exit. She was about to race out of the garage when a camoflauge painted Humvee squealed to a stop to block her exit.

Panicking, she saw four men jump out with AK-47's pointed at her.

She started to reverse but they started firing and she ducked as the glass shattered, holding her hands over her head. They raced to the sides of the car, smashing out the windows.

Katelyn screamed and curled up into a ball as much as she could until she felt herself being dragged out of the car.


	11. Chapter 11

Daryl drove up and down the streets one by one, searching for Rick and the others but found nothing. Camping out in a house in the middle of the old main street area, they were loading up when they heard an eruption of gunfire. Racing to the truck, they threw their gear in and took off.

"Which direction did that come from?!" Daryl yelled, looking in his mirrors for anything moving.

"Sounded like a few blocks away." Merle said, rolling down his window so he could hear.

Sara put her seatbelt on just in case. She knew this could get ugly, really fast and didn't want a car accident to be the thing that did her in.

"Over there!" She shouted, pointing when she heard another round.

Daryl turned fast, his tires skidding as he raced around the corner. Gunning it, he sped toward the sounds of battle. Racing down a hill, the truck caught air as it launched off the top of the hill, landing them right in the middle of the firefight and causing Daryl to spin the truck 180 degrees. Merle immediately saw some of Breed's men on the roof and shot, nailing one with a lucky shot, but causing the others to drop immediately as a new player entered the game.

Right away, Rick wasn't sure what had happened until he saw none other than Merle Dixon leaning out the window, hooting as he shot up the guys on the roof.

He never thought he'd be happy to see Merle Dixon, but at the moment, he wanted to kiss him.

Flying down the street, it was Daryl who saw Rick and spun the truck to provide cover to him.

"Get in the back!" Daryl yelled as Rick, Andrea, and Carl ran for the back, hopping in just in time to duck as another series of rounds were shot off.

Peeling out, Daryl took off down the street.

"Tyreese and the others are just two blocks south." Rick shouted to Daryl who could barely hear him so Rick pointed.

Speeding past another group of Breed's men, he thought he saw a couple camoflauge Humvees and his stomach twisted.

"Shit!" Daryl swore loudly.

"What!?" Merle exclaimed.

"They've got military vehicles! Some sort of personnel carrier and some Humvees with gun mounts!" Daryl yelled back over the noise of gunfire out the back.

"Christ!" Merle swore viciously shaking his head.

"They must have taken them from a National Guard base or something. We're fucked!" Daryl shouted, swerving around a corner to lose them.

"We gotta get outta here!" Merle yelled over the gunfire erupting from Rick who was shooting at two bikers who were chasing them.

"I ain't leavin' without Katelyn!" Daryl yelled.

"Where's Kate!?" Daryl yelled out the window at Rick but he couldn't hear him.

Sara started sliding the window in the back of the cab open so they could talk to Rick and the others.

"Ask him!" Daryl ordered Sara who stuck her head out the window.

"He wants to know where Katelyn is!" She yelled over the noise.

"Glenn knows!" He yelled back. "If we find Glenn, we can find her!"

Daryl heard.

Rick handed the walkie through the window and Sara gave it to Daryl.

"Glenn! This is Daryl. Where are you?" He asked, talking into the walkie.

"4th and Grant, inside a shop without any windows left." Glenn said, giving him a picture of the predicament they were in.

Handing the walkie to Sara, he turned left and started heading back toward the area where the shooting was, looking for 4th street.

Not bothering to stop at the signs, he was there in no time and turned onto 4th, slowing down to look for shooters on the roof. Rick mounted the rifle on the top of the cab and waited, as Andrea did the same with her handgun. Carl had the revolver and sat low in the bed of the truck alongside Carol with their legs strapped under one of the restraint belts so he would fall out.

There was a glint on the top of the roof where Andrea was looking so she aimed and waited until she saw the bald head of one of Breed's men and shot. The bullet pierced his brain, sending him sprawling backwards in an instant kill shot.

"Nice one!" Rick shouted, smiling at Andrea.

"Look out!" Andrea yelled looking over Rick's shoulder at a biker popped up from a storefront window to shoot at them.

Rick turned and shot, hitting him in the arm he was holding the weapon in. Andrea shot into the shop again but she wasn't sure if she hit him or not.

"There's Glenn!" Carl yelled as they rolled forward in the truck.

Rick grabbed his handgun and began shooting at rooftops for suppression fire while Glenn and Andrea bolted for the truck, jumping in the back with the others. The minute they were in, Daryl took off, heading down one of the side streets in order to get out of the area quickly so they could talk.

Speeding away, they turned down 3 or 4 streets just to get lost, then pulled into the first open garage they could find. Jumping out, Daryl rushed to the door and closed it behind them, engulfing them in darkness.

For a moment, it was silent inside the garage, then Andrea jumped down, grabbing Daryl in a huge hug. Kissing him on the cheek, she smiled from ear to ear.

"Hi there, stranger." She teased, hugging him again.

Daryl was surprised, but allowed her to hug him before pulling away to shake Rick's hand.

"Boy are we glad to see you." Rick said, pulling him in for a hug.

"Hey Asian." Daryl said, smiling at Glenn. He'd missed the kid.

"Let's save the festivities for later. Where's Kate?" Daryl asked sheepishly, thinking that everyone probably hated him for leaving her to begin with.

"We hid her. She's at a parking garage not too far from here." Glenn said. "She's got a walkie."

"Kate! We're on our way to get you. Stay put." Glenn said over the walkie, but there was no answer.

"Shit! Maybe it doesn't work in the parking garage." Glenn said, holding it up to try again.

"Kate! You there?" He asked, but Daryl was getting a bad feeling.

"Come on. Let's go and check it out." Rick said, knowing that Daryl was probably worried sick and Kate was probably scared to death.

"Load up!" Daryl shouted, hopping in the truck, having Glenn trade Merle so he could direct him.

Glenn climbed into the truck and was surprised to see an unknown face there smiling at him.

"Hi." Sara said, feeling a little ridiculous at this point, but it was a weird situation.

"Hi." Glenn said back, looking at Daryl to explain.

"This is Sara." Daryl said as he started the truck, waiting for Merle to open the garage door for him.

"I'm Glenn." He said, smiling warmly at her.

Sara laughed slightly.

"I'll explain how I got here later." She said, smirking.

Glenn smirked back at her, both understanding how crazy it was right now.

"Hopefully, we'll have time." He said, pulling out his gun so he could shoot if he needed to.

"Turn right, head two blocks, then left. There's a parking garage there." Glenn told Daryl as he backed out, waiting for Merle to hop in the back before he took off.

Daryl didn't say anything as they started to drive. His focus was intense and Glenn didn't want to distract him so he stayed quiet. Pulling into the parking garage, they immediately saw the station wagon crookedly sitting in the exit lane, the glass shattered out of it. Daryl stopped fast, shoving the gear over to park and jumped out, rushing over to the car.

Looking in the window, he immediately realized that it was empty and turned to look at Glenn with a questioning glance.

"Shit!" Glenn said, feeling dread at how the car looked.

"Oh my god." Andrea said, realizing that the glass was shot out. Carol stood in the truck and stared at the wrecked stationwagon and her hands flew to her face.

"No." Carol cried, thinking of the baby. "Oh god no."

Daryl started growling low in his throat and smashed his fist into one of the windows that wasn't completely shattered.

Bringing his fists up to his face, he covered his eyes, then shouted furiously.

Rick felt awful, and he knew they had to tell him.

"We'll find her, Daryl." Rick said, trying to calm him down but when he put his hand on Daryl's arm, Daryl threw it off, bending over to catch his breath.

He was caught in a whirlwind of emotion. Fury, terror, and agony all mixed in one storm that raged through him. He didn't know whether to cry, scream, or kill someone.

"Daryl." Carol said quietly, coming over to him, but he didn't acknowledge her. Looking at the group, she didn't know what to do. Andrea stood with her hand over her mouth in shock while Rick stood there trying to think of what to do. Maggie was crying and knew what was coming next.

"Daryl." Carol tried again, "We need to tell you something."

Daryl looked up with absolute misery on his face.

"I'm so sorry. We'll find her. I swear we'll find her, but we need to tell you something." She continued, moving closer to him to place her hand lightly on his arm.

He looked down at it, a feeling of doom coming over him. Merle started to move toward him as he saw the looks on everyone's faces and knew something was about to go down. He'd never seen Daryl like this and he didn't know how he'd react.

"Daryl." Carol turned him so he was looking at her before continuing, "Katelyn is…Katelyn is…"

She couldn't finish. She didn't know how to tell him.

"Katelyn is what!?" He bit out between clenched teeth.

Taking a deep breath, Carol finished.

"Katelyn is pregnant."

Daryl might as well have been hit in the face with a baseball bat.

He stood completely still. No sound. No movement. His face drained of all color and is eyes glazed over instantly.

No one moved. No one knew what to do. It was obvious that to say Daryl was in shock, was an understatement.

It wasn't until Merle swore, that anyone breathed.

"Fuck!" Merle cussed, closing his eyes in absolute disbelief. Even Sara stood silently, her mouth hanging open in surprise.

Daryl sank to his knees, his hands landing on the ground, as he proceeded to throw up.

"Damn." Merle said quietly this time, feeling bad for another person for the first time in his life.

Moving over to his brother, he put his hands on his shoulder and let out a deep breath.

"We'll go to hell if we have to. Don't matter. Family's family. We'll get her back." Merle said, a soft tone coming into his voice, leaving everyone in shock.

Daryl just leaned his head on his hand trying to stop the world from turning.


	12. Chapter 12

Daryl was in a fog of fury as Merle drove back into the main area to pick up Tyreese, Hershel, Madeline, Sasha and Ben. He didn't know what to do. They were still in the area and his best bet at finding her, was being captured so they'd take him to Breed. His head was spinning from the thought of Katelyn being pregnant and he wanted to cry. He just wanted to hold her and take her away from all of this shit.

Merle knew that Daryl wasn't going to do anybody any good right now. His brain was hazy and he wasn't thinking straight, but if they had any hope of getting her out, he'd need to pull out of it. They were going to need all the help they could get. Passing by one of the alleys, Rick called out for them to stop.

"I see the SUV!" Rick shouted, jumping over the side of the truck with Andrea and Glenn. The others stayed inside.

Merle backed up, waiting as Rick and the others darted in and out of cars, heading toward the black SUV that was parked behind a dumpster. Moving toward it, they saw movement on top of a roof and ducked low, waiting to see who it was.

Rick saw a bandanna and knew it wasn't Tyreese so he shot, missing the head by an inch, but then he heard gunfire about thirty feet from them. Running down the alley, Rick rounded the corner into a firefight between Tyreese and a group of Breed's men with Breed walking behind them.

Pulling back, Rick waited, then peeked around the corner to shoot at the group of ten men moving toward Tyreese. Tyreese heard the gunshot behind him and realized that Rick was there. They were pinned down with Hershel who moved slower. Motioning for Sasha, who held the baby in a sling in front of her, Madeline and Ben to move, he covered them while they ran. Grabbing Hershel, he put his arm under him to half carry him, and fired behind them as they ran. Diving behind a car, he was relieved to see the other three.

"We found Daryl and Merle. They're waiting behind us. Let's go!" Rick said, moving down the street.

The whole group ran but skidded to a halt when they saw Glenn, Maggie, Sara, and Merle, standing with their hands in the air. Daryl still sat in the car unable or unwilling to move at this point and sitting in the middle of the street in front of them was one of the Humvee's with a gun mounted to it. Looking behind them Rick saw a personnel carrier. Rick turned to run back the other way but Breed and his men were closing his fast behind them.

A feeling of dread immediately followed, and Rick knew they were in trouble. They were now trapped three ways and they were way outgunned.

Stepping out into the street, Rick raised his arms and joined the others with Glenn and Andrea following suit. When Breed came strutting down the alley, stepping out into the street, Rick was shocked when he heard a voice come over the PA system attached to the personnel vehicle.

"This is United Stated Army Major Jackson Reese and I order you to put your weapons down and surrender."

Everyone froze, including Breed and his men.

The group from Georgia was completely confused, but obviously, Breed and his men knew what was going on because suddenly, Rick and the others were caught in a fire fight between the bikers and the military.

Grabbing Carl, Rick pushed him to the ground while the street filled with gunfire.

Merle grabbed Daryl and dragged him out of the truck, pushing him down as he ran with him toward cover. Once he had Daryl behind a car, he ran back, ducking the bullets that were blazing over his head. Diving behind the truck, he rolled under it and saw Sara lying on the ground as well.

"Sara!" He called, scooting closer to her.

She heard him call her name and started inching her way across the ground, too scared to stand up and hurry to him. Once she reached him, he grabbed her and shoved her down, covering her with his body as he dragged her over to where Daryl knelt. Peeking back around, he saw Rick grabbing the baby they were traveling with, huddling his body over it, he started toward Merle who helped cover him as he got closer.

Glenn helped Tyreese with Hershel, ducking low and nearly dragging him across the road while Maggie ran behind them. As they got to the other side, they were so grateful they made it that they didn't notice a small unit of men coming toward them with weapons. They turned to run and ran right into 6 armed men in US military outfits.

"Don't move! Get down on the ground!" The one in front yelled, pointing to the ground.

Merle had to grab Daryl and push him to the ground because he wasn't responding fast while Rick was struggling to get down with Judith in his arms. He didn't want to put her on the cold, snow covered ground so he slowly removed his coat and laid it down before placing her on it.

"Don't move. Stay where you are!" The men rushed in, grabbing arms and hands, while others patted them down, removing an arsenal of weapons from them.

Everything was going smoothly until they moved to Daryl. The minute they put their hands on him, though, he went ballistic. Merle tried to intervene, but it didn't help. The first soldier began grabbing his arms and an ungodly, primal sound ripped from his throat as he bashed his head backwards into the soldier, sending him sprawling. The other soldiers jumped on him instantly, struggling to hold him down as he snarled like an animal fighting in a death match.

"He's in shock! Don't hurt him!" They all started yelling, trying to calm the soldiers down so they'd realize he wasn't a threat to them, but he kept fighting so fiercely the soldiers dogpiled him. Even then, he didn't stop, and continued shrieking while they practically hogtied him with plastic handcuffs.

Merle rested his forehead on the ground and sighed. He couldn't help Daryl right now but he needed to calm down.

"Daryl!" Merle shouted. "Calm down! They're the good guys!"

Daryl was still thrashing around on the ground with two soldiers holding his head to the ground.

"Daryl! They can help you find Katelyn!" Merle decided to try that and see if it'd snap him out of it but Daryl kept on thrashing.

The gunfire lasted another five minutes before it quieted. Rick and the others were loaded into the personnel carrier and the soldiers had to carry Daryl who was still hogtied. Sliding him across the floor of the carrier, they pushed him inside, then climbed in. Merle couldn't lean down to talk to Daryl, so he tried to speak loud enough for him to hear.

"Little brother, it's all right. They can help us." Merle tried his best to be soothing, but coming from him, it sounded ridiculous.

They drove a short distance, the group hearing gunfire in the distance before it faded away.

They didn't drive long before they turned into the parking lot of a school. Pulling up to the entrance, they could see troops and other vehicles all over the place. It looked like the staging ground for an operation. One by one we exited the back end of the personnel carrier, before they lifted Daryl off the ground and carried him inside the gym with the rest of them.

Just outside the gym, they stopped, probably because they were tired of carrying him and set him down. One of them crouched down next to him.

"You gonna be able to walk or are you gonna fight us?" He asked, looking at Daryl.

Merle walked over toward them slowly.

"I'm his brother. Can I talk to him?" He asked, looking at Daryl's cold, expressionless face.

"You can try." The soldier said, standing back a bit.

"Daryl, listen. You gotta cooperate. They can help you find Katelyn." Merle said quietly.

He was surprised when Daryl looked up at him.

"He'll be okay." Merle nodded as the soldier pulled out his knife to cut the bindings around his ankles so he could walk on his own.

Grabbing his arms, they stood him up, but they left his hands cuffed.

Waiting outside the gym, the ground seemed utterly relieved to have found military and were talking to each other quietly. All of them were keeping an eye on the "Daryl situation" but they were so happy to have been rescued that they were elated.

After a few minutes, a handsome, middle-aged man with soft brown eyes, dressed in military camis approached them.

"I'm Major Jackson Reese. Is anyone here named Rick Grimes?" He asked, looking over the motley crew.

"Uh…yeah." Rick said, moving ahead of the group.

"I've got someone who is very anxious to see you." The Major said, smiling reassuringly at Rick.

Rick, however, was confused. The group was silent as they listened, all of them trying to figure out who is would be.

"Come on. Follow me. I'll take you inside." The Major said, pausing to look at Daryl. "You all right now?

Daryl was startled that he was talking to him, but he nodded.

"Let's get those off of you then." The Major cut the binders off his wrists and Daryl started rubbing the feeling back into them.

Turning, he motioned for them to step through the doors and into the gymnasium.

The lights were bright causing everyone to blink rapidly. Tents were set up inside and there was a lot of activity. They could see a medical area and people who were obviously civilians that had survived. They realized quickly, that the military had set this up and was out rescuing civilians.

Carol was so happy, she started to cry.

Madeline stepped forward.

"I need to speak with you as soon as you can. I'm a doctor working for the CDC and I have some important information for y…" Madeline was cut off by a cry that was so loud, it filled the gymnasium and caused everyone to stop doing what they were doing.

Daryl turned his head to look, startled at the loud cry. That's when he saw her.

Katelyn was running towards him, tears pouring down her face.

Daryl was stunned and it took him a second to react.

Before he could move, she threw herself into his arms, covering him with kisses, making them both fall to their knees.

Katelyn clung to Daryl's neck, squeezing him so tight that she could feel his heart beating against hers.

"I never thought I'd see you again!" She cried, her mouth pressed against his neck.

His arms went instantly around her, pulling her even tighter as tears began to fall from his eyes. His hands shook as they framed her beautiful face so he could peer into her eyes. He could barely breathe, he was so happy.

"Oh my god…I….I…I thought I'd lost you forever." Daryl cried, leaning his forehead against hers. "I'm so sorry. I never should have left."

Katelyn sobbed, holding him to her.

"It wasn't your fault. I love you. I will always love you." Katelyn wept.

Pushing her away for a moment so he could breathe her in, he looked her up and down to make sure she was real and whole. That's when he saw it; the gently swelling belly that carried his child.

Daryl couldn't contain it any longer and wept tears of joy, leaning his head down to rest it on her stomach. Katelyn cradled his head as he gently placed his hands on her abdomen to feel. He was so overwhelmed that he didn't know what to do and sat up to pull her against him again.

Holding her face between his hands, he kissed her passionately.

"I love you. I will never leave again." Daryl whispered as applause erupted from every corner of the gymnasium.

It wasn't every day they got a happy ending.


	13. Chapter 13

Daryl lay on the cot that he'd pulled right next to Katelyn's, staring at her face while she slept. He studied her, his eyes following the curves of her body, finally coming to rest on the swell of her belly. Reaching out, he gently laid his hand on it and closed his eyes. He couldn't imagine her traveling without him all this way while she was pregnant and guilt swarmed him.

He closed his eyes for a moment and he felt the baby kick. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see her looking back at him.

"Good mornin'" She said softly, smiling at him.

Daryl smiled, reaching out with his fingers to touch her face, trailing them down along the planes of her features. Reaching up, she took his hand in hers and turned her lips into his palm, kissing it.

"I thought I'd never see you again." She whispered.

Daryl leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"I would have spent the rest of my life searching and I wouldn't a die til I found ya. I figured God thought it'd be a lot easier just to let us find each other again so I wasn't buggin' him every day in curses or prayers." Daryl chuckled.

Katelyn smiled so wide that it turned into a tear-filled laugh. She had never been happier in her life.

"How do ya feel?" He asked, his thoughts turning to the baby. She had lost weight since he'd seen her last, making her look frail and delicate.

"Like I could fly." She smiled, batting her eyelashes at him playfully.

"I'm serious." He chided.

"I'm tired a lot more than usual, but I feel good." She replied, knowing that he was probably wondering about every detail he'd missed.

He kissed the tips of her fingers and leaned over to kiss her mouth.

"Hey! Get a room, you two." He heard Andrea call out from across the way, making him chuckle.

Looking up, he saw that everyone in the tent was watching them and smirking.

He flipped them off.

They all burst out laughing.

Daryl growled and pushed himself up to stand.

"So what's next?" He called out to Rick who was putting his boots on.

"We go have a chat with the Major." Rick said.

Daryl nodded, looking back over at Katelyn who was stretching her sore back.

"They have doctors here?" He asked Rick, talking quietly so Katelyn couldn't hear him.

Rick looked over at Katelyn as well, knowing exactly what he was thinking. He and Hershel had been worried about her for a while too.

"Yeah. They had a medical tent." Rick answered.

Daryl nodded.

"How is she really?" he asked softly.

Rick ran his hand through his hair.

"It's been rough. Really rough." Rick answered honestly.

Daryl's face looked grim.

"She was really sick for a few months. That's how we figured out she was pregnant. Then, later, she started to get hopeless and got really depressed. We almost lost her at the Colorado border when she tried to go back to the interstate to wait for you. I thought I was gonna have to hogtie her and toss her in the car." Rick said, looking at Daryl.

"Jesus." Daryl bit out, trying to act casual but his stomach twisted in knots when he heard that.

"All she thought about was you, buddy. Never doubt that she loves you." Rick said, putting his hand on his shoulder before walking out.

Daryl glanced one more time at her before following Rick and Tyreese out of the tent.

####################################################################################

Major Reese grabbed the squealing 6 year old around the waist and swung him up in the air, making him into an airplane complete with zooming noises. The giggling 6 year old put his arms out to both of his sides as the Major swung him in circles.

"Major." One of the sargeants interrupted as he led Rick, Tyreese, and Daryl to him.

The Major put Jake down on the ground, patting him on the butt to send him back to play with the other kids who were being wrangled by a young 18 year old girl that'd been rescued.

Jackson Reese had been a family man…before all of this began. He had wife, one little boy, and another baby on the way when the disease hit. He had been stationed here in Aurora, Colorado but by the time he'd gotten to his house, it had been too late.

He was a man familiar with loss.

When they'd found the young woman in the parking garage, he'd seen immediately that she was pregnant and scared, and it reminded him of his own wife. After they secured her, he took her under his protective wing. He could see that she was half-starved and traumatized, obviously having been through a lot. He'd gained her trust the moment she saw that it was a real army operation, and when she told him about what was happening to her friends and about Madeline, he'd gathered a team together to go rescue them.

They'd had reports about this "Breed" guy for months now and were starting to paint a picture of his operation which consisted mostly of extortion for protection, kidnapping and rape. He considered himself a modern-day warlord and once Jackson heard about the missing girls, he considered it his personal mission to destroy his operation and end his reign of tyranny.

The fact that this group of survivors had managed to get the best of him, made him smile.

Never underestimate an American's will to live.

Smiling, he extended a hand of friendship to Rick.

"It's good to meet you now that it's calmer." Major Reese said, shaking the hands of the three standing in front of him.

"I wanted to give you all a chance to rest before debriefing all of you. I hear you have some important information for us on multiple fronts. Let me know when you're all up to it." He continued.

"First, we wanted to thank you. I don't know if we'd have survived that one." Rick said, truly appreciative.

"Don't underestimate yourself. From what Katelyn told me, you guys are tough as hell." He complimented, truly meaning it.

"It hasn't been easy, that's for sure." Rick said, tearing up as he thought of Lori.

Jackson took in Rick's face, knowing the look well.

"I'm sorry for not being able to help sooner." The Major said softly, offering Rick a cup of coffee and motioning for them to come into the school offices they were using for their own command center.

The Major pulled up chairs so they all could sit, and grabbing cups of coffee for Tyreese and Daryl as well.

"Thank you." Tyreese said, taking the cup from his hands.

"I have a lot of questions but first thing's first..." Rick said, pointing to Daryl who leaned against the wall instead of sitting in the chair.

"Do you have a doctor that can look at Katelyn?" He asked, trying to get a read on this Major Reese guy. He seemed genuinely caring and it was obvious by the way he referred to Katelyn, that she trusted him, which was saying a lot, but he was more suspicious.

"When we found her, we brought her to medical right away. She was…distraught and obviously pregnant. I was a little worried." Jackson told him, hoping it would make him feel better.

"And?" Daryl asked, wanting to hear it for himself.

"Considering what she's been through, the doctor said she was doing okay. She's underweight and is probably suffering from PTSD but she's managing." He explained, hoping not to alarm him. Katelyn had talked about nothing but Daryl and it was obvious that she was wholeheartedly in love with him. What Jackson was trying to figure out, was whether Daryl Dixon was in love with her. When she'd told him the story of how they got separated, a part of him had been angry. To abandon her in a world gone crazy, made him sound like an ass, but he'd give the guy the benefit of the doubt…for now.

Daryl nodded, concern causing a frown on his face as he thought about everything she'd suffered.

"The doctor will run some more tests when she's ready. She didn't want to traumatize her further with bloodwork and the like. She was exhausted and emotionally raw so we thought it'd be best if she rest for now." Jackson finished, searching Daryl's reaction for proof of his devotion.

Daryl coughed to cover up the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.

Jackson saw it though and his heart softened toward him a bit. Obviously, Daryl Dixon felt deeply for her, which made him raise a notch in his opinion.

"My little girl. Can they look at her to make sure she's okay?" Rick asked, wanting a check up to make sure she was doing okay.

"Absolutely. We only have 1 other baby and he's fat and happy thank to the doc's spoiling of him. She'll see to her gladly." Jackson chuckled at the amount of attention that "Little Jack" as he'd been nicknamed, got around the outpost.

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to us." Rick said sincerely.

"Yes I do. If my boy and my wife had survived, I'd want them to be taken care of, so I try to remember how I'd want that done, and make sure it happens for those of you who survived." The Major said with raw emotion that even Daryl could see.

Rick nodded, feeling utterly grateful to this man.

"Let's have the doc check out everyone in your group sometime today. Just go see her. She knows you're coming. Once you're all settled in, come on back here to my office so we can get information from you. Madeline and I have already talked and we're waiting for word from headquarters as to what we're going to do with it." Jackson stated, letting them know that they were working on it.

"Major, how many of us are left?" Rick asked softly, his questions racing through his mind.

Major Reese paused for a second, exhaling in a sigh before answering.

"Not as many as we'd like." He answered truthfully.

"How many of you are left?" Rick countered, his heart sinking with dread.

"Not as many as we'd like." Major Reese stated quietly.

Rick and Tyreese exchanged glances. Daryl was staring down at the floor.

"Who's running the country?" Tyreese asked, getting straight to the chase.

Jackson took a deep breath.

"That's a good question. Right now…no one really. We're pretty much under martial law where there are commands left, but the rest of the country is in chaos. General Archer is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces but there is a group of Generals and Admirals who are acting as the Supreme Military Council at the moment, though that makes us sound bigger than we really are." Major Reese explained, trying not to scare them, but letting them know that there was a hierarchy.

"What about the rest of the world?" Daryl piped up, questions running through his mind as well.

"Good question. We don't have any communication with large chunks of the world, but we have been in contact with Europe, China, and Israel. They're in the same boat as we are. We're hoping that with Madeline's information, we can find other organizations that are still running so she can finish what she started and find a way to fight this." He explained.

"Shit." Daryl swore, shaking his head. He knew it was bad, but he didn't realize it was that bad.

"Do we know where this comes from yet?" Rick asked.

"No." Jackson answered honestly.

Everyone sighed.


	14. Chapter 14

Katelyn and Sara sat on the wrestling mats that had been placed on the floor for the kids to play on. Enclosed in a makeshift barrier, they created a "daycare" area for all of the children that had been rescued. From infant to 14, they were to stay in that area where a few adults were assigned to take care of them. It was hard to keep them occupied all day, so Katelyn came up with the idea to grab curriculum from the school they were house in and set up a small school.

Katelyn, Sara, and the three other adults that helped, spent a week putting together ideas. They created a structure with a schedule so they could add some predictability to the lives of these poor children. When Jackson heard about what they'd done, he was impressed. He hadn't had time to help out in a meaningful way and was very appreciative that they'd taken the initiative and gave those children a sense of normalcy once again.

Dividing the children up into lower elementary, upper elementary, and junior high created three teaching groups where they were able to teach the children useful things, but Katelyn knew this was all for nothing if they didn't know how to survive so she asked Daryl if he would come help with teaching some of the things she couldn't.

Daryl and Carl stood in front of the whole group of kids, staring at them blankly after one of the 8 year old boys asked him a particularly gruesome question that caused gasps of horror from some of the other children…especially the girls.

"Do you kill animals and eat them? What do you do with the guts?" Daniel asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Rick, Katelyn, and Jackson stood on the sidelines chuckling as they watched him freeze in front of the kids.

Katelyn rescued him.

"Daniel. Let's not try to be disgusting. We're talking about how to identify plants that you can eat." Katelyn said, redirecting the youngster toward the topic and pointing at the pictures of the plants to get them thinking about something else.

Daryl and Carl, who stood beside him, helping with the lesson, smirked.

Daniel reminded Daryl of himself when he was young.

"I've seen those before!" A 9 year old girl named Kristen called out, pointing at the wild raspberry plant.

"Yeah? Where?" Daryl asked, hoping they were close by. He was sick of MRE's.

"On the edge of the playground at my school." She answered.

"Where are you from?" Daryl countered.

"Brush." She answered, smiling at Daryl.

"It's a ways away from here." Jackson supplied, smiling at Kristen.

Daryl harrumphed disappointedly.

"All right. Tomorrow we're going to talk about safety and what to do if you see a walker." Katelyn said, nodding at Daryl since she'd roped him into a three-day gig.

He appeared downright miserable, but she knew that secretly, he loved it.

The kids didn't realize he was a notorious curmudgeon so they climbed all over him, asked him all sorts of questions and the boys all wanted to see his crossbow. Daryl tolerated the attention, even allowing himself to get pulled into a game of tag.

When it was over, Katelyn kissed Daryl and thanked him.

"Thank you." She said sweetly, smiling at him broadly when the kids all started "ooh-ing and ah-ing."

Daryl actually blushed.

"I'll see you in a little bit. We're meeting with Reese to go over some stuff." He said, hugging her gently.

Katelyn frowned with worry.

"What's going on?" She asked quietly.

"I'll talk to you about it tonight. K?" He said, kissing her on the forehead, but Kate could tell that something was going on.

She nodded and watched him walk away, a feeling of dread in her heart.

################################################################################

"Thank you for coming." Major Reese and three other commanders stood inside the administration's conference room as Rick, Daryl, Andrea, Maggie, Glenn and Tyreese entered the room. They could tell immediately that this wasn't going to be good.

Rick and the others sat, as Daryl leaned against the wall in the corner. He didn't like sitting. It made him fidgety….especially when he wasn't going to like what he heard.

"I want to thank you all for the information you've given us. It's incredibly helpful." Major Reese started with the compliment, trying to ease them into the conversation.

"Just cut to the chase." Daryl snapped, irritated that they were blowing smoke up their asses.

Major Reese chuckled wryly.

"All right. Here's the deal. You guys have a lot more experience out there in the field than most of my troops. You've fought walkers and humans with teeth and claws and managed to survive…and protect those you care about." Jackson said.

"Not all of them. We've lost a lot of people we cared about." Glenn said, thinking about Dale and Lori, and all of the others.

"I know you have, but you're here, and we need you. We need your help." Major Reese stated honestly.

"With what?" Daryl asked, wondering what he was getting at.

"With Breed." Jackson stated.

Daryl sighed, looking at the others to gauge their reactions.

"What is it you think we can do that you can't?" Rick asked, voicing the question that all of them had.

"We have firepower and manpower, but not experience. He's spread out, not unified which means we're useless against him to some extent. We could spend years chasing one or two of them around but never really put a dent in his army." He explained, leading up to the real mission.

"So what do you want us to do?" Daryl asked, his eyes narrowing.

"We want you to take him out. Kill him. Cut the head off the snake." Jackson stated, his tone flat with no affect. He knew what he was asking, but in the world they were left with, this was the most expedient and safest way to deal with him.

Daryl exhaled, looking at Rick.

"We don't have approval for an operation to move against Breed. He's just not a priority to the higher ups, but those of us around here have seen the devastation he causes and we've all agreed and are willing to take the reprimand if it comes our way." Jackson explained.

Rick didn't answer right away. He looked around at his group to try to see what they were thinking.

No one moved.

"We'll need to talk about it." Rick stated, looking back at Jackson.

"Of course." He replied, nodding at Rick who was obviously their leader. He could tell that they all trusted and respected him. He'd been surprised to find out that Rick was once a small town sheriff's deputy but it suited him. He had that honest, country-boy demeanor and an earnestness that Jackson appreciated.

He hated putting them in danger once again, but Breed needed to be stopped. He knew there would be lots of cleanup missions following his death. As far as he could tell, there were 18 missing girls, but he knew there were a lot more. He had some information that led him to believe that he had a farm somewhere where he kept them all, like a harim, that he used to keep his gang happy. It disgusted him and he couldn't sleep knowing that they were out there and he wasn't doing a damn thing to help them.

Rick stood, and the others followed. Nodding to Jackson, they all left the room, returning to their tent.

Major Reese looked at his commanders and sighed.

"Do you think they'll do it?" Lt. Pete asked.

"Yeah. I think they will. They've all lost people, either to the walkers, or to evil men. Andrea told me about a guy called The Governor that sounds similar to Breed, though not as nasty as him. They're just not the types to sit back and let evil happen. They know what's at stake for those girls." Jackson explained, watching them walk down the hallway.

"I hope you're right." Lt. Pete said.

"Me too." Jackson said.

_Me too._


	15. Chapter 15

The entire group sat within their tent. Some sitting on chairs, others on their cots, while a few stood, listening as Rick addressed them all. Carol rocked little Judith, keeping her quiet as she looked over at Kate. She could see the blank expression on her face and knew she was worried. Merle stood behind everyone, standing in the shadow with his arms folded over his chest, while Michonne stood in the other corner watching intently.

"All right, listen. Reese has asked for volunteers to go on a mission." Rick stated, looking at each one of their group.

"The army won't give him permission to go and take Breed out, so he's asked us to do it. He said he'd supply us with equipment, weapons, and vehicles, but if he sends troops, he's violating direct orders." Rick continued.

"Breed's got a whole stable of young girls that he's kidnapped at some farm. Jackson believes they know where the farm is and that Breed goes there often. He wants us to kill Breed, and rescue the girls." Rick finished, not seeing any point to dragging the whole thing out. He was just going to put it on the table and see what happened.

He looked around at the faces of the battered and bruised survivors. He saw the darkness that now shadowed their eyes and the deep lines of stress on their faces. He knew what he was asking and he wanted to make sure they knew it was completely their choice.

"Listen people. This is entirely voluntary. No one has to go, and no one is gonna be upset if you don't. We have a place now that's safe. He's asking us to give up a lot." Rick assured them, trying to make them all realize that they were all heroes in his eyes.

"Each and every one of you has shown the most heroic bravery I've ever seen. Each of us has lost more than any human being should ever have to lose. There is no shame here. We have all proven our worth in the eyes of God. There's no shame in saying no to this." Rick finished, looking each of them in the eyes, letting them know that he believed every word he said.

Everyone was silent. They looked around at each other, gauging each member of the group's reaction. They were all thinking the same thing; they were exhausted and they'd been through so much but they knew what fate lay in store for those girls if they were left there.

Merle Dixon was the first to step forward.

"I'll go." He said, his raspy voice filling the silence.

"I'll go." Andrea stated next. She needed a place to put her rage. She needed to do something to change the world.

"I'm in." Michonne said, nodding at Andrea in understanding.

"Carol, will you take care of Judith for me?" Rick asked, turning to look at her.

Carol's hand flew to her mouth as tears filled her eyes, but she nodded, smiling lovingly at Rick.

"Then I'm in as well." Rick said.

"I'm in and so is Sasha." Tyreese stated, moving to stand beside Rick.

Daryl stared down at the floor. He'd told Katelyn earlier about what was going on and in his heart, he knew he couldn't let them go without him. He thought about those girls. Girls, just like Katelyn; victims to the depravity of evil men, and he couldn't stand by.

"I'm in." Daryl said softly, earning him a few gasps from Carol and Maggie whose eyes shot straight to Katelyn.

Katelyn's eyes filled with tears and she bolted out of the tent.

Daryl sighed in sadness.

"Wait a minute Daryl. I think you better stay. The baby could come before we get back and Kate's already…stressed." Rick tried to talk him out of it.

"I know, but I can't…I think about those girls and I remember when I first found Katelyn. I can't stand by and let that happen to someone else's girlfriend, or daughter, or wife. I can't live with myself." Daryl said passionately.

Rick nodded, a sad expression on his face.

"If you're sure." Rick said.

"I'm sure." Daryl answered.

"I'm in." Ben said, stepping forward.

"I can't let you do that. You're not 18." Rick stated, smiling at him to soften the blow.

"It don't matter anymore. I got no one left and boys may age fight in wars all the time. I'm doing this." Ben asserted.

Rick paused for a moment then nodded.

Glenn looked at Maggie who started shaking her head, "no", but he stepped forward anyways.

"I'm there." He said, refusing to look at her.

"Then I'm going too." Maggie stated, gritting out her statement through her teeth.

She was mad as hell at Glenn but she wasn't about to let him go off on her own.

"All right then. I'll let the Major know." Rick said, incredibly proud of the family they'd become.

Daryl ducked out of the tent to go find Katelyn.

She was pacing in the corner of the gym, her head tipped back as she stared at the ceiling trying to prevent the tears from falling. It didn't work and the tears ran down her face as she shook her head, saying "no" over and over again.

Daryl came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. The minute she felt him touch her, she fell forward on her knees. Dragging in breaths, she struggled to breathe and Daryl knelt down behind her to rub her back and try to calm her down.

"It's gonna be okay. I promise." Daryl said gently, pulling her back against him.

She didn't say anything, just shook her head silently.

"You know why I have to do this, right?" He asked, sliding his legs out so he was sitting on the ground and pulling her back so she was resting against his chest.

Katelyn nodded miserably. She understood, but it didn't change anything.

His arms came up across her chest to hold her firmly. Using one hand he pressed her head back, bringing it to rest under his chin as he laid his cheek on the top of her head.

"I love you." He said softly, kissing the top of her head.

Katelyn just sat there and cried.

#################################################################################

Jackson stood a ways off, watching the scene unfold. He hadn't expected Daryl to volunteer and now he was left feeling awful for asking this of them. He had started calling them his "Atlanta Braves" because they were the most damn courageous people he's ever met. They, in his mind, were the epitome of the word heroic.

He wasn't sure what to do about this one though. He understood completely why Daryl thought he had to leave, but he wasn't sure he was willing to allow it with the state of Katelyn's health. He knew it was none of his business but he cared about these people's lives.

Turning, he headed toward their tent to speak with Rick.

Passing by a few of them, he was taken aback when Andrea smiled, winking at him. If he didn't know better, he'd say she was flirting. Scratching his head, he turned for a second and watched her walk away. Smirking and shaking his head, thinking that she was one dangerous woman, he entered the tent.

"Rick. Can I speak with you?" Jackson asked, nodding at the others. He saw Carol holding the baby and smiled. She was a sweet woman, everything he knew about her said that she and that baby shouldn't be alive, but it was a testament to the strength of this group that they were.

"Yeah." Rick walked over to him.

"I'm not sure Daryl should go." He said bluntly.

Rick rested his hands on his hips and nodded.

"I know. We're all thinking the same thing, but if Daryl's made up his mind, there's not much I can do." Rick told him. "He's not exactly the type that follows orders."

Jackson smirked, nodding in understanding.

"So what you're saying is, if I force him to stay, he's gonna do something stupid." Jackson asked, sighing.

"Yeah, basically." Rick answered, laughing a little in appreciation of Daryl's rebellious spirit. It had certainly gotten them out of many scrapes.

"Shit." Jackson muttered, thinking about how Katelyn would handle this.

"I just don't see this going well with Katelyn." Jackson stated, concern dripping from his voice.

Rick agreed.

"Yeah. I just worry she's gonna lose it…or try to follow him." Rick said quietly, looking around the tent.

The Major took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

This wasn't good.


	16. Chapter 16

They loaded up the personnel carrier, throwing the gear in the back. The carrier was so they could load the girls they rescued, while the Humvee was to take the group there. Rick and the Major walked into the garage with a crate that he handed off to Daryl. Looking down, Daryl whistled, a big smile on his face.

"Somebody loves me." Daryl said, grinning from ear to ear.

Everyone was putting their gear in the Humvee and Glenn was set to drive the personnel carrier which they would use to transport the girls they rescued from Breed. They had emergency medical gear in the back just in case and supplies to last them up to a week in case Breed wasn't there for a few days.

Since they knew he was in the area only a few weeks ago, it was likely had he hadn't gone all that far and the farm was only a few hours from them. The plan, was to go in, get the girls, and be home by tomorrow, but they all knew how plans went.

Katelyn walked over to Daryl and handed him his emergency pack.

"I know you're excited about the tear gas and grenades, but please don't forget this," she kidded, smirking at his delight over getting to blow stuff up.

Daryl pulled her in close and kissed her, taking the bag from her.

"And that's why I keep you around." He teased, winking at her playfully.

Tossing the bag into the Humvee, Daryl looked around to see how close to done everyone was.

"Ya'll ready? I don't wanna take all week. Let's get there and get this done!" He called out, always the one chomping at the bit when they went on these "little excursions".

"I'll be back tomorrow hopefully." Daryl said, turning back to her. She hadn't said anything after yesterday, just went on pretending like nothing was happening. It was starting to make him nervous.

"Don't be too sure. I'm thinkin' more like 3 days." Glenn called out earning him a glare from Daryl.

"You got Sara and Judith?" Daryl asked, trying to distract her.

"Yeah. Carol and I are watching them." She responded absently.

"You'll be so busy with them, I'll be back before ya know it." Daryl kissed the palms of her hands and smiled at her.

"All right! Let's load up!" Rick yelled as he swung into the front of the Humvee.

Major Reese closed up the rear end and sealed it tight, patting the rear end to let Rick now it was secure.

"Time for me to go." Daryl whispered, leaning in to hug her again.

"Be safe." Katelyn said, kissing him one last time.

Daryl walked around to the other side of the Humvee and hopped into the passenger side next to Rick. Pounding on the top to signal Rick, they began to pull out of the garage.

Katelyn stood in the doorway watching them leave, a numbness settling over her as Daryl left again. She was trying hard not to feel like the world had finally pounded the final nail in her coffin, but as she watched him go, a feeling of raw sorrow filled her as the fear that it might be the last time she ever saw Daryl again took hold of her mind.

##############################################################################

The back roads were getting icy as the temperature dropped and they slowed down a little for safety. Within four hours they turned off onto the gravel road that led into the woods about 3 miles away from the property.

They pulled the equipment out fast, each supplied with military gear, and once they were ready, they gathered to make a plan.

"We're gonna spend the next few hours scouting, then meet back here." Rick explained and everyone nodded.

Michonne and Daryl were the fastest in the wilderness, so they took off ahead of the others. Some were staying behind to watch the vehicles and others were performing a wide perimeter search and scout mission so they weren't surprised by anyone.

The snow lightly dusted the ground, making their footsteps softly crunch the earth below. Both moved quickly and quietly toward the property, until they could see it in the distance. Pulling out the binoculars, Daryl began surveying the acreage.

He saw three buildings; the house, the stables and the huge garage. There were multiple men patrolling the grounds and many coming in and out of the stables. From the amount of action surrounding the stables, and the large heating unit that blew into the stables, he theorized that the girls were being held there.

"Son of a bitch is running a brothel in the stable." Michonne confirmed, talking through gritted teeth.

"Yeah." Daryl said, counting the men coming and going before turning his attention to the house.

"I think the men stay in the house. There's not a ton of them, but I'll bet when Breed is here, there's a lot more." Daryl stated.

"All right, let's get back and tell Rick." Michonne said, waiting for Daryl to stand before they two of them headed back.

It only took about 30 minutes to make it back to Rick and the others. Daryl was going over the mission in his head, wondering if it would be easier to get the girls out if Breed wasn't here. He knew that Breed would just take more girls and set up shop somewhere else, but the thought of making those girls stay there one more night set his teeth on edge.

"There's about 15 guys there that we could see." Daryl reported, grabbing some water to drink.

"But no Breed?" Rick asked.

"No. Not yet." Daryl said, though Rick could sense his irritation.

"Say what's on your mind, Daryl." Rick said, talking quietly to him as a friend.

"While we sit and wait for Breed to get there, those girls are being…tortured." Daryl said, trying not to think about Katelyn.

Andrea sighed, overhearing Daryl. She looked over at Merle who listened quietly as well. He knew exactly what was going on and what his brother was going to suggest.

"What if we go in there, take out all the men, free the girls and then wait for Breed. All we gotta do is lure him in close enough to kill him." Daryl said. He and Michonne had discussed the plan at length on the way back from scouting and both of them were willing to take the chance.

Rick took in the suggestion, and began thinking. Looking over at Andrea, he saw her shrug, then onto Merle next.

"Don't make much difference to me." Merle said, looked at Daryl and nodding.

"Tyreese? Glenn? Mags?" Rick asked, going around the group.

"We can try. Worst thing that happens is that Breed gets away and we have to kill him later." Glenn said.

"Worst thing that happens is that we get killed and Breed gets away." Daryl said, snorting.

"True." Andrea agreed, "But I think it's worth it, and leaving those girls in there for another day or two just doesn't sit well with me."

Rick nodded.

"All right then. We go in ten minutes. Glenn, you be ready with the carrier. From our scouting reports, we can drive straight up there with it and get all of them. Just be ready when I signal you." Rick said, nodding to Maggie and Glenn.

"We'll be ready." Glenn agreed.

"Grab your stuff and let's go!" Rick called out to everyone before they headed into the woods.


	17. Chapter 17

Daryl crouched behind an old haypile that was stacked up against the stables. It must have been his lucky day because one of the bikers walked right in front of him giving Daryl the opportunity to kill him quietly.

Grabbing him from behind, Daryl sliced the knife across his throat too fast for any noise to be heard, then lowered him to the ground. Grabbing both of his arms, Daryl dragged him into the hay, covering his body so no one would find him before moving down toward the back of the stables.

Rick was coming around the other side and had killed two of Breed's men just as quietly. He met Daryl at the back door, which was locked from the outside. Clutching the knife between his teeth, Daryl freed his hands so he could slide the wooden plank that secured the door. Lifting it, he set it on the ground silently and slowly started to open the door.

Peeking through the crack, Daryl could make out four of Breed's posse inside. Across from them was a row of stables where he could see a girl being brought out of. She was probably in her early twenties, sandy brown hair and petite. She had that clean, Midwest look and was obviously afraid.

"This is our new girl; Becca." He heard the tall, skinny one say as he shoved her over to another guy. This guy had on a black leather vest, jeans, and chaps. His gray hair, or what he had left of it, was tied back in a little ponytail at the back of his head. He held the girl at arm's length and looked her up and down. She was wearing a robe that she clutched in her hands trying to keep them from looking at her.

"How old are ya sweetheart?" The gray-haired one asked her.

It took her a second to answer and Daryl knew that she was in shock so she wasn't processing information as quickly as she normally would.

"I'm…I'm twenty. Just turned twenty." She stated, her voice shaking from fear.

"You a college girl?" He asked her, making small talk while he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

She nodded.

"Just one year of it." She explained, although she didn't know she was bothering to tell them anything.

"Good. That means you're smart, so let me give you the best piece of advice I can; Don't try to escape. If you do, you better pray the walkers get you cuz if we catch you…you'll wish you were dead." He said flippantly as if he cared nothing for her wellbeing at all, and in reality, he didn't.

Becca started to cry which must have irritated him because all of a sudden, he backhanded her so hard, she flew into the stable wall, then dropped to the ground holding her cheek.

"Oh yeah…and another thing…don't cry. It sets my nerves on edge." The silver-haired man stood and walked out of the stables leaving the other two men behind.

"Get up you stupid bitch." The tall, skinny one said, grabbing her arm to yank her to her feet.

"Eddie don't play. Just be smart and do what he says and you'll be just fine." He told her, as he shoved her into the stall.

Closing the latch, he slid a padlock through it and clicked it shut.

Daryl felt cold anger begin seeping through him. He hated feeling helpless. On the way here, Rick asked him why he decided to come. At first, he didn't have an answer, as time passed, he started to unravel his motives. He hadn't been able to stop what happened to Katelyn, but he could stop it from happening to someone else. He thought about their child and the world he or she would come into and he felt the overwhelming need to return the small part of the world that lived in, back to something good, something pure. He couldn't describe it when Katelyn had asked, but that's what it was. While Katelyn carried their child, he could make the world it would be born into a little safer.

Daryl's eyes fell to a ring of keys that hung from the skinny one's belt.

"We need those keys." Daryl mouthed to Rick who nodded in understanding.

"If we can take the two guards inside quietly, then we can start getting the girls out. She didn't have shoes on, though, and that's a problem. They can't run through the snow for 3 miles without shoes." Rick stated quietly.

"We're gonna have to get them to the back of the barn, then take out all of the guards by drawing them into the barn." Daryl said.

"All right." Rick agreed, opening the door a little more so they could slip in.

They waited until the two guards moved away from the door a bit before slipping in. Crouching down behind a stall, Daryl caught the girl in the stall watching them through the slats. Moving his finger up to his lips, he signaled for her to be quiet. Her eyes were wide with fear and her face was covered in bruises. Pulling out the knife he kept in his boot, he slid it through the slats to her. At first, she didn't move, but eventually she silently grasped the other end of the knife. He saw the tears of gratitude in her eyes before she slid back onto the old mattress in her stall.

Rick and Daryl moved on, walking stealthily toward the two guards and then, grabbed both men from behind, sliding their knives across their throats in a silent death. Grabbing both men before they fell, they barely got them into a stall before another guard entered the stable.

"Frank? Where'd you go man? You know you're sposed to stay in here." The large-bellied man kept walking, closer and closer, calling out as he walked. When he got in front of the stall, Daryl grabbed him around the mouth and sunk a knife into his back, right where his left lung was. The minute the knife sank in, the man tried to yell, but nothing but air came out. Daryl pulled him backward into the stall, forcing him to the ground and Rick shoved the blade into his heart, killing him.

They hadn't even noticed the girl that sat huddled in the corner until the fat man was dead.

"It's all right. We're gonna kill them, then we've got a military personnel carrier ready to take all of you to a safe location, okay?" Rick assured her.

Her lip started trembling and she threw her arms around him.

"Thank you…thank you…" She babbled, but Rick peeled her arms off of him, worried that someone might come.

"You're not out of here yet, but I need you to go to the stall of the girl near the back door." Rick said and she nodded, moving quickly down to the stall near the door.

Rick and Daryl watched her, before moving on to the next few stalls. Daryl took watch at the main doorway to the stables while Rick freed the girls, moving them to the back entrance.

That's when they heard gunfire.


	18. Chapter 18

Rick and Daryl raced to the door to look out. They could see three bikers crouched down behind a haybail outside the stables. Daryl pulled his gun and shot two of them before they even knew the two of them were there, while Rick shot the last one, dropping him immediately to the ground.

"Who's firing?" Rick asked Daryl who had a better view.

"Tyreese and Maggie." Daryl answered, shooting at another man who was hiding around the backside of the house kittycorner to where he and Rick were.

"If you go up to the second level of the barn, I'll cover from here and maybe we can draw most of them out." Rick said.

Daryl nodded and ran quickly to the ladder that took him to the loft and climbed it. Racing toward the upper doors, Daryl opened one and grabbed his rifle, waiting for someone to poke their head out. Through the scope, he could see Tyreese hiding behind a piece of heavy machinery and Maggie was behind the tool shed near the house. He saw Michonne moving toward the house with her katana poised to strike. She was probably the best one to go into the house.

In his head, he was already counting down the number from 15, and they had 8 left. Scanning the yard, Daryl searched for Merle and Andrea, finding one behind the barn and another laying on their belly on the backside of a ditch with the rifle aimed and ready.

Michonne crouched down beside the side door to the house and picked up a large rock, before hurling it through the window, causing a loud commotion and a lot of gunfire. The gunfire came from within the house, giving Daryl the location of several shooters. Seeing two guns coming out of the front window, Daryl waited for them to shoot again, and squeezed the trigger, injuring the one on the right.

At the side door, Michonne waited until someone moved near before she made another noise to draw them out. Kicking the door open, a biker in leather pants came racing through shooting, but Michonne was crouched down low. Swinging her sword, she sliced right through both legs of the man, dropping him to the ground. Screaming in agony, he continued to shoot his gun until Michonne severed his head with one slice.

Looking down at the lower legs of the man, she picked them up and through them through the door. She could hear shouting inside and waited as two more came out with gun blazing. Since she was around the corner, they ran right past her and Daryl was able to shoot one clean through the chest while Merle killed the other one with two shots; one to the head and one to the stomach.

Merle closed in behind Michonne to provide cover for her as she ducked inside the door that led to a hallway. Moving stealthily, Michonne and Merle entered the house. Andrea didn't waste any time either and bolted for the house right behind them, only someone was in the upper window and shot, hitting her in the shoulder.

"Shit!" Daryl swore, seeing her go down. He had to give it to her though, she kept rolling until she lay behind an old pickup truck.

Eying the upper window where the shooter was, Daryl waited and was rewarded when the shooter moved to the other side to get a better view. Daryl hit him in the temple in a clean kill, dropping him instantly, before racing down the ladder.

"Andrea's hit! I'm gonna go grab her and put her with the girls." Daryl yelled at Rick.

"All right. How many are we at?" Rick called out.

"Five left if we counted right." Daryl said, standing next to the door he was about to bolt from.

"Glenn, this is Rick, do you read me?" Rick said into the walkie.

"This is Glenn, go ahead." Glenn replied.

"Start making your way here. Pull up right in front of the barn. You're armored and there are only 5 or so guys left." Rick relayed to him.

"On my way." Glenn said.

Daryl waited for the shooting to pick up again and dashed for the old pickup truck where Andrea was laying on the ground.

Startling her, she pulled her gun fast, aiming it at him.

"Jesus! You scared the shit out of me." Andrea swore.

"You already shot me once. You really wanna do that again?" Daryl joked, looking to see how much blood she was losing.

"It's just my shoulder. Hurts like hell." Andrea complained.

"Glenn's on his way. Let me help ya into the barn. We're gonna load the girls as soon as he gets here." Daryl said, helping her to her feet.

Taking Andrea's arm, he lifted her, but once she stood, she started swaying dizzily.

"Oofdah." Andrea said, going pale.

"Come on. Lean on me. I'll help ya get in there." Daryl said, seeing the lack of color in her face. The minute she stood, the blood started to spread.

By the time they got to the door she was too dizzy to walk so he picked her up.

"I'm fine, Daryl. I can walk." She mumbled.

"Uh huh." He agreed, pacifying her stubborn need to look like a badass.

Hurrying, he carried her to the end of the stable where the other girls were now huddled together. They had at least 20 girls of all ages ranging from 14 to 30, making Daryl's stomach turn.

"This is Andrea. Will one of you put pressure on that gunshot? The truck is on its way to get all of us." Daryl explained, looking at the wide eyed expressions of the women.

No one moved for a minute, then one woman stepped forward.

"I'm Rachel. I'll take care of her. I was a nurse." She stated and he could instantly tell she had strength of character and a calm head.

Grabbing one of the blankets from the stall, she grabbed the knife from the one girl Daryl had given it to and tore off a hunk of it. Wadding it up, she laid Andrea down and pressed it firmly to her wound.

Andrea yelped.

"Sorry about that. I'd give you drugs if we had 'em but the kind they got around here aren't any you wanna have in your system so bear with me." Rachel smiled sympathetically down at Andrea who gritted her teeth and nodded.

"You got her?" Daryl asked, looking at Rachel.

"Yup. You go take care of those assholes." Rachel said with an eerily vicious smile on her face that made Daryl smirk.

"My pleasure." He replied, winking at her playfully before running back toward Rick.

By the time he got there, everyone was inside the house. Two gunfights were going on within the house. One upstairs and one on the main level. Daryl hurried in the same way Michonne and Merle entered and quickly found them.

They were in the hallway and had cornered two men in the bathroom beyond the door. The men had no way out and so they were just waiting.

"Why're we waitin'?" Daryl asked.

"I got a grenade. Let's just use it." He added, making sure he was loud enough.

Michonne didn't even have time to reply to Daryl before they heard the two men call out to them.

"We surrender! We're coming out." They called from behind the door.

"Open the door and slide your guns out here first." Daryl called.

The door opened and three guns were slid out on the floor. Merle and Daryl stood to the side of the door waiting as the two walked out with their hands raised. Merle and Daryl immediately hit them in the heads with the butt of their guns, knocking them out.

They heard the last gunshots from upstairs and knew that this part of the battle was over.

"Now what?" Rick asked, coming up behind them.

"We send the women back in the carrier with Glenn and Maggie and we either stay and clean this up and wait 'til Breed gets here or we take one of their walkies back to the Major so they can triangulate his location using their frequencies." Daryl stated, looking at Rick.

"He's more unprotected here though. Less people." Rick said.

"Well, we got two on the floor there that might be able to tell us when he's coming." Daryl nodded toward the unconscious bikers.

"Perfect." Rick said, smiling, looking down at the groaning men.

Squatting down next to them, he tapped one of them with his foot. The man moaned and opened his eyes.

"Hello. We've got some questions for you." Rick said with a tight-lipped politeness.

The man closed his eyes again so Rick gave him a swift boot to the ribs and his eyes popped open.

"You can sleep later. When does Breed get here?" Rick asked impatiently.

The man looked at him for a minute, but he wasn't moving fast enough so Daryl grabbed him by the shirt front and yelled.

"I will start breaking bones if you don't start talkin'!" Daryl threatened menacingly.

"T…tomorrow. He gets here tomorrow." The man stuttered as he spit out the answer before letting his head flop down to the ground again.

Daryl opened his fist and dropped him back down to the ground, spitting beside his head.

"Good." Daryl spat.


	19. Chapter 19

It was quiet. Too quiet.

Rick and Daryl lay on opposite sides of the ditch that lined the driveway, waiting. They had set up landmines made from grenades in order to hit his caravan after they turned down the road. They would create a funnel using the wreckage from their vehicles and the rest lay in wait in the fields so they could pick them off as they climbed from the wreckage.

Not knowing if it was safe to travel back to Limon on their own, the personnel carrier and the two Humvees waited inside the stables, hidden. They had orders to take the women to safety should the group fail. Some of the women huddled within it, terrified that their rescuers would fail. Ten of the women, however, decided to take up arms, grabbing the weapons of the fallen bikers and joined the Atlanta group in the field.

Right away, Rick didn't think it was a good idea, but Daryl and the woman, Rachel, convinced him that they had a right to fight for their freedom.

So they waited in the field to take it back from the man who'd stolen it; Breed.

##############################################################################

Katelyn gasped, her back cramping as she stooped over one of the children she was teaching to read.

"You okay?" Carol asked.

"Yeah. I keep forgetting that I'm too pregnant to be bending over for that long." Katelyn said, placing her hand on the small of her back and stretching her aching muscles.

Carol laughed.

"I feel like Jabba the Hutt." Katelyn chuckled as she waddled over to a chair to sit down. Her smiled faded as she thought about Daryl.

Carol looked up when she heard a sob escape Katelyn's throat and rushed over to her.

"I'm sorry." Katelyn whispered. "I can't do this anymore."

Confused, Carol asked, "Can't do what anymore?"

"Pretend. I can't stand waiting. I can't feel this way any longer…" She babbled, not making sense. "I don't want to feel this way anymore. What if he just keeps leaving? Am I supposed to wait in terror for the day he doesn't return. Why? Why would he leave again?"

Carol sighed. She had wondered the same thing and had no words of comfort for her.

"I don't know why he left but I know Daryl. He loves you. Never doubt that. If he left, it was because he believed that he had to in order to keep you safe. As ridiculous as that sounds, remember that first and foremost, he's a man, and men…" Carol paused, "…are idiots."

Katelyn burst out laughing and threw her arms around Carol.

"Thank you." Katelyn said through her tears.

"For what?" Carol asked, laughing with her.

"For giving me hope." She replied, smiling at her friend.

#########################################################################

It was 10:00 in the morning when Glenn signaled them from the road up ahead.

"We got one vehicle and about 10 bikers in escort." Glenn said over the walkie.

"Copy. Get back here now." Rick said into the walkie, motioning to Tyreese and the others to get ready.

"Let's hope these bobby traps work." Daryl muttered.

"No kidding." Rick stated, looking up the road as the motorcycles turned into the 100 foot gravel driveway.

The motorcycles road beside the Humvee that Breed was riding in. Moving slowly down the driveway so as not to kick up dust, they inched their way closer. Rick cracked his neck, trying to relieve some of the tension in it. Daryl's finger twitched as it held a grenade.

The car passed the marker Daryl had placed beside the road and he nodded at Rick.

"Now." Daryl said and Rick pulled the string on the booby trap.

The explosion rocked the ground, the sound cracking through the air like a sonic boom as dirt and the grenades exploded beneath the Humvee sending it spinning through the air. It landed on its top in the ditch next to Tyreese. The men on motorcycles who were near it, were thrown through the air in pieces, landing with _splats_ and _thuds_ on the gravel road. The ones who survived were blown into the ditch and back up the road.

Daryl moved quickly. He couldn't use the grenade to hit the Humvee again because it was too close to Tyreese so he dashed over toward it, pulling his gun out on the way.

"Kill everyone in the car!" He shouted, skidding to a halt when he saw a figure trying to drag itself from the vehicle. Waiting until it was exposed, he shot the man in the head as he exited. He didn't, however, see the muzzle of a rifle pointing out behind him.

_Bam!_ A bullet hit Daryl in the shoulder, knocking him back. Tyreese was quick though, and dropped to his knees, shooting into the Humvee until he emptied his clip.

Daryl held his shoulder, the pain making him grit his teeth.

"Get outta here! I'm gonna toss a grenade in." Daryl yelled to Tyreese.

Struggling to his feet, Daryl heard a shout from inside the vehicle at the threat of a grenade.

"You got about five seconds to come outta there before I do." Daryl threatened, holding his shoulder awkwardly.

He saw a hand grab the window frame and within seconds, the shoulders and head of a man emerged from within. Dragging himself the rest of the way out, he looked up at Daryl.

"Please don't kill me." The man said, as Rachel walked up behind them.

Daryl turned to look at her.

"This him?" He asked her, but didn't need her to answer after looking at her face.

Snarling with anger, she swung her leg, kicking him square in the teeth.

"That's for my sister!" She screamed as he grabbed his bloody face.

"That's for all the other girls you raped and killed!" She continued, kicking him in the testicles causing a high pitched whistle to escape his mouth.

Pulling her gun, she pointed it at his head and became very quiet.

"This one's for the world." She said quietly causing his eyes to widen as he stared into the barrel of the gun.

Pulling the trigger, she put a bullet right through his head, ending his life instantly. Daryl nodded in approval.

"Almost wanna say that it was too good for him. Shooting him in the head." Daryl said, looking over at Rachel.

"I just want him dead and gone so no one ever has to suffer at his hands again. I don't need him to suffer to get what I want." She said sadly, looking at Breed lying on the ground. "He's gone and that's what matters."

Daryl nodded in understanding.

"You okay?" He asked.

Turning, she smiled at him sadly.

"I am now." She stated before walking back toward the stables.

Daryl watched her walk away and knew she'd be okay. She was one of the strong ones.

Turning back, he saw Rick put a gun to another bikers head and shoot. He didn't want anyone getting back up again.

Daryl walked over to another one and shot.

Five minutes later, they were all dead, but the two they had tied up back in the carrier.

The group gathered in the center of the yard, looking around, each thinking the same thing.

It was time to go home.

#################################################################################

Katelyn gasped as another cramp seized her, this time spreading to her abdomen as well. Carol looked at her with a puzzled expression as the Major walked through the tent.

"You okay?" Carol asked.

"Yeah. I was bending over too much today." She said, rubbing her back, trying to ease the tight muscles. "Hello Major."

"Everything all right?" Jackson asked, looking at Carol's worried expression and back to Katelyn.

"Yes. I did too much bending today." She said, smiling warmly at the Major.

But when another cramp seized her, she doubled over in pain, and both Carol and the Major rushed to her side.

"You're in labor." The Major said, gently grabbing her arm to help support her.

Katelyn's eyes found his and pure panic seized her. She wasn't ready. Daryl wasn't here. She couldn't do it alone.

"No…no…I can't be. Daryl's not here." Her words tumbling from her mouth.

"You're gonna be just fine." Major Reese said softly, trying to comfort her as he started walking her slowly toward the medical tent.

"No…no…I can't. I can't do this without Daryl." Her voice becoming high pitched as the panic started to take hold.

Looking down at her, the Major saw the terror and thought back to his wife who had to give birth to their daughter on her own as well. He had been deployed at the time and she'd gone into labor during a horrible blizzard. She had been alone at home and had no way to get to the hospital and no one to help her. She had stumbled over to the neighbors to get help and ended up having to walk to a main street so an ambulance could take her to the hospital. Once at the hospital, she went into hard labor but no one in her family could get to her so she gave birth alone in the hospital.

Something that he never forgave himself for.

_Please let them come back soon._ He prayed.

Moving the tent flap, he walked her through the doorway, Carol rushing behind them. Dr. Adams saw them and immediately went into action.

"Bring her over here." She said, motioning to another area of the tent where they'd have some privacy.

"No. I'm not doing this." Katelyn said, beginning to fight the Major feebly.

"Katelyn! We don't have a choice sweetheart." Major Reese said, all but carrying her now to the bed Dr. Adams was pointing to.

"I can't. We have to wait for Daryl." Katelyn wasn't being rational anymore at all and Jackson sighed, feeling awful about not being able to do anything to help.

"Katelyn, honey, the Major will call him on the walkie, okay?" Carol said, trying to think of something that would calm him down.

"Y…you will?" She asked, her eyes wide as saucers as she looked up at him.

Jackson nodded, holding her arm so she couldn't bolt.

"I will…if…you cooperate with Grace." He said, blackmailing her into helping the doctor.

Tears sprang to her eyes and she nodded.

"Okay. I'll go get him on the walkie and be right back." He said, handing her off to Carol and Dr. Adams.

"All right now. First things first; we gotta get you outta these clothes so we can see how far along you are, okay?" Grace said to her, waiting for her to reply so she didn't scare her.

"Okay." Katelyn said as Carol closed the curtains around the area of the tent so she'd have privacy.

Carol helped her get into a gown and pulled a blanket out of the cabinet in the corner so she wouldn't be cold. Dr. Adams made sure she was comfortable and then explained how everything was going to happen before checking to see how dilated she was.

"You're at about 6 centimeters and about 50% effaced so it'll be a little while most likely. That should give Daryl a chance to get here." She told her, even though she doubted he'd make it in time.

"It's your first baby, so it generally takes a little longer." Carol smiled, trying to reassure her.

"I can't do this without him, Carol." She started to panic again.

"Let's wait for the Major to come back and see what he says." The doctor stated, while she and Brittany, her nurse, got everything ready.

Katelyn stared at the ceiling, praying for Daryl to get there in time.


	20. Chapter 20

Katelyn lay on her side, breathing slow deep breaths, trying to stay calm as another pain wracked her body. Crying out, she gritted her teeth, trying to hold on through it. Carol sat at the side of her bed, holding her hand as the Major returned, calling out to make sure it was okay to enter.

"Knock Knock." He said, waiting until someone told him to enter.

Brittany pulled the curtain back and stepped to the side so he could come in.

"How's she doing?" He asked, looking at the expression of agony on her face. He smiled sympathetically at her and sat down next to her bed.

"She's got strong contractions and they're coming much quicker than we expected but she's not ready to push yet. The doc thinks it'll be another hour or two." Carol said quietly as Katelyn closed her eyes after the contraction passed.

"She looks pale." He said, worrying that she wasn't doing well.

"She's doin' just fine." Brittany assured him, though the worried expression on her face gave it away.

Grabbing a damp cloth, he wiped her face, cooling her off and waited for her to open her eyes. It didn't take long before she looked straight at him.

"Daryl?" She asked, in a whisper that was barely audible.

Right then, the doctor entered and Jackson looked at her. She shook her head at him, as if to say; don't upset her, so he lied.

"I talked to Daryl and Rick. They're fine and they're on their way home." He said, hating the fact that he was lying to her but knowing that it might be the only thing that kept her going.

Katelyn started crying. They were happy tears but he could see how exhausted and terrified she was.

"You get some rest, okay?" He told her. "That's an order."

She smiled, but it soon turned to a grimace when another contraction hit her. The Major reached out and took her hand, letting her squeeze it for all she was worth, but he could tell that she was weak and started to worry.

After the contraction passed, he stepped outside of the medical tent, motioning for Grace to follow him.

"How is she really?" He asked.

"Not good. She's weak and the baby hasn't turned yet. The labor's hard but she isn't effectively dilating or effacing. It's possible that this baby will need to be C-section." She said in hushed tones.

"How long before you make that call?" He asked.

"I don't know yet. She hasn't been in labor that long yet and its already hard, so I'm gonna play it by ear." Grace said.

"What can I do to help?" He asked, not wanting to intrude on such a private moment, but afraid that they'd lose her if he didn't. He'd never been good at feeling helpless.

"The best thing you can do is get Daryl here." She said quietly.

Major Jackson sighed sadly. He didn't know what he could do to get Daryl here, but if he could…he would.

The Major turned to leave, but the doctor stopped him.

"Why do you care so much?" She asked.

". I couldn't be there for my wife and I know she'd want me to help if I could. I owe it to her." He said sadly, looking down at his feet.

"You're a good man, Major. Your wife would be proud." She told him, smiling and touching his arm.

Blinking back tears, he walked toward the fenced off backyard of the school. Looking both ways, he realized no one was there so he took off running for the helicopter that sat quietly in the center of the yard. Grabbing the straps, he unhooked the machine and climbed in.

He hadn't done this in a year now, but like riding a bike, he quickly remembered. Firing up the engine, the Major lifted off the ground just as men were running out to see what was happening.

Jackson looked down and saluted the men who watched him leave.

#############################################################################

It was the slowest 3 hours he'd ever driven. Rick was quiet most of the way and Daryl was thinking about Katelyn. About an hour ago, he started getting an awful feeling that something was wrong and the longer it took, the more panicky he was getting. He never should have come. He should have stayed with Katelyn.

At the time, it had seemed like a good idea. He thought he'd be of more use if he could make the world safer for his family. He didn't want Katelyn or their child living in a world where men like Breed threatened their lives. He had felt the overwhelming need to make it safe for them.

He didn't realize that all Katelyn wanted was him. That she'd be fine as long as they were together. He knew she understood why he went, but still, he doubted his reasons. He should be there, with Katelyn.

And now, he knew something was wrong.

Both Rick and Daryl heard it at the same time, turning their heads to the side as they tried to figure out what the sound was. Daryl rolled down his window so he could hear better. As he did so, he saw a black dot on the horizon coming closer.

"Shit!" Daryl swore.

"What is it?" Rick asked desperately.

Daryl squinted trying to figure out what it was. That's when its shape became obvious and a sinking feeling hit Daryl in the stomach.

"It's a helicopter." Daryl said quietly.

"It can't be Breed's men, right?" Rick stated, then questioned as he became uncertain.

Daryl continued to watch as it headed straight for them.

"I don't know but it's coming this way." Daryl said.

"Wait. It's coming from the wrong direction to be Breed." Rick shouted happily.

The helicopter was now hovering in front of them, setting down up ahead as the caravan came to a halt.

"It's Major Reese." Daryl said breathlessly, as dread filled him.

He climbed out of the Humvee, holding his hand up to guard his eyes from the dust that was flung about in the air, waiting for the Major to reach him.

"It's Kate. She's in labor." Reese explained as he jogged over to him.

Afraid to move, he just stared at the Major in shock.

Rick put his hand on Daryl's arm.

"Go on then." Rick told Daryl who turned to look at Rick with mouth agape.

The Major smiled at Daryl's shock.

"Come on. Let's get you home." The Major patted his arm and motioned for him to follow.


	21. Chapter 21

Katelyn panted heavily, trying to block out the pain that wracked her body. Cold sweat trickled down her face as another wave hit her body. A shriek of agony flew from her mouth as it overtook her. All she could do was ride the waves, having no power to stop them.

"Keep breathing Katelyn." Carol coached, squeezing her hand.

Carol started worrying about an hour ago when Katelyn stopped fighting and her grip became weak. She kept looking at the doctor who was frowning every time she glanced at Katelyn. So far, labor had become more intense but it wasn't progressing and Carol knew that Katelyn was in trouble.

"Please." Carol whispered, praying out loud, "Please let Katelyn and the baby be okay."

Carol knew what it was like to lose a child and she couldn't imagine what Daryl would do if he lost them both. It would be twice as bad, too, because he wasn't there at her side.

"We're getting close to time." Dr. Adams said quietly, not wanting Kate to overhear, "We've started prepping a room to perform a C-section."

Carol nodded, looking down at the pale face of Katelyn. Staring off at the wall, Katelyn lay on her side. Tears poured down her frightened face as another contraction hit her. Crying out at the piercing pain, Kate squeezed her eyes shut then choked on a sob.

She knew something was wrong.

"Daryl. Where's Daryl?" She moaned, pleading for him, but he was nowhere to be found, making her cry even harder.

"Katelyn, I need you to breathe, okay?" Dr. Adams called out to her, trying to get her to refocus so she could breathe through the pain.

Another contraction hit, catching Kate off guard, and causing her to curl up in a ball, gasping for air. She threw her head back in agony, moaning from low in her throat.

"S…s…something's wrong!" Katelyn screamed before her breath caught in her throat when another pain hit her.

"You're doing just fine. Keep breathing. Slow your breathing down. The baby's not turning and you're not dilating so I'm going to prep for a C-Section." Grace told her, leaning down near her head so she could hear.

Carol squeezed her hand as another contraction hit, causing her to throw her head back again and cry out fultilely.

"Daryl!" She cried, sobs wracking her body as terror rushed through her. At this point, she wasn't coherent, simply existing in a haze of agony.

"He's on his way." Carol told her over and over again, trying to calm her, but knew she was lying. No one had heard from him.

"Please…please…something's wrong. What's happening? Daryl!" Katelyn was in full panic now, struggling to get out of bed as the pain abated for a second.

Carol grabbed her shoulders and shoved her back down just as another contraction hit.

Katelyn gasped, before a bloodcurdling scream let loose from her.

###############################################################################

The minute the helicopter touched down, Daryl bolted for the door.

Three guards ran out to meet the Major.

"I expect you to report my behavior to the General immediately." He ordered his Lieutenant.

"Report you for what, sir?" The lieutenant said back, plastering an innocent look on his face.

The Major looked at him and smirked.

"For my misconduct." Jackson stated.

"I don't know what you're talking about, sir." The lieutenant said back, rushing to hook up the straps on the helicopter.

The Major patted him on the shoulder, smiling, then turned and walked inside.

##############################################################################

He could hear the screams as he approached the tent. He could tell instantly, that something was wrong as he flung back the tent flap and hurried toward the back of the tent.

"All right, sweetheart. It's time." Dr. Adams said, kicking the brake release so she could move her bed.

"No! No!" Katelyn started screaming in terror, trying desperately to bolt from the bed.

Daryl entered just in time but nearly froze at the sight.

Katelyn was terrified, her face pale and damp, with eyes wide and pupils dilated beyond belief. She frantically fought what the doctor was trying to do and was near hysterical.

Racing to her side, Daryl grabbed her before she fell out of bed.

"Hey…hey…hey. Look at me. Katelyn. Look at me." Daryl said soothingly, his hands gently pushing her down to the bed.

Katelyn moaned, grabbing her stomach as another pain took hold. The black haze of anguish blocked out his voice and all she heard was the blood pounding in her ears.

"Boy am I glad to see you." Grace told him.

"What do I do?" Daryl asked, his heart racing with alarm. Katelyn didn't look good. He'd seen childbirth before and he could tell that something was wrong. She was in too much pain, and her pale face and weak grip wasn't a good sign.

"I just need you to talk to her. Get her to engage with you. She's not listening to anyone at this point. She's panicking." Grace told him, moving lines around and hooking them to the side of the bed.

Katelyn moaned his name again and Daryl looked down at her face. Brushing her hair from her face, he took her hand in his.

"Katelyn…Katelyn." Daryl said gently, kissing her hand, but she was in too much pain to recognize him.

"Kate!" Daryl said firmly, taking her face in his hands. "Look at me!"

Katelyn started shaking her head but then a pain gripped her and she cried out, her eyes flying open.

"Katelyn! Look at me!" Daryl shouted, moving her head so she was forced to look at him.

He could tell the moment she realized he was there. Her eyes widened and she cried out his name.

He smiled gently down at her.

"Daryl!" She sobbed, trying to grab hold of him, but she was so weak.

"I'm here…I'm here." He assured her, holding her arms so she didn't hurt herself.

"Something's wrong!" She cried out as another pain shot through her, causing a screech to erupt from her throat.

Daryl turned and looked at Dr. Adams.

"We're prepping for an emergency C-section." She said, beginning to move the gurney, "We're gonna move her to a classroom where we've got an OR set up."

Daryl grabbed the sides so he could help.

"What's happening?!" Katelyn called out, confused and scared.

"We're going to move you sweetheart. Dr. Adams is going to do a C-section. You're almost done." He said, realizing that Katelyn was in bad shape.

"Tiffany, I want you to grab 50 mg of Fentanyl and give it to her now." Grace called out, as she and Daryl began moving her through the tent.

"Can't we give her one of those epi-things?" Daryl asked, trying to keep himself calm.

"Not enough time now. The pain medication Tiffany just gave her should take the edge off and then we're going to knock her out completely. It's the fastest way to do this and we need to hurry." Grace told him as they moved her across the gymnasium.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Daryl asked breathlessly, suddenly aware of how worried the doctor was.

"I'm not gonna lie. It isn't good, but I think we can do this." Grace looked him in the eye and nodded encouragingly.

"I'm gonna need you to stay strong, okay?" She asked, seeing his face lose its color too.

Daryl nodded. He didn't have a choice.

Major Reese saw them and hurried to assist. Carol was rushing behind them, pushing the IV cart. People in the gym stopped to watch the procession, knowing that something was wrong. They'd all gotten to know Katelyn and liked her very much, making them all hope for the best.

Jackson grabbed the other end of the gurney, helping Daryl lift it over the door frame before hurrying down the hallway toward the classroom Dr. Adams had turned into an operating room.

"She's gonna be fine, Daryl." Jackson told him, after seeing his pale complexion and worried look.

Daryl's eyes met his and he nodded.

"Turn here." She called out, opening the door for them.

Katelyn didn't know what was happening and began to panic again. The pain medication had kicked in, making her a little drowsy but the pain was still intense. Frantically looking around the room for Daryl, she was relieved when he grabbed a stool and sat right next to her head, blocking her view of what the doctor was doing.

"What's happening?" Katelyn whispered, cringing as a wave of pain seized her.

"She's prepping you for a C-section, honey. Don't look. Just focus on me, okay?" He explained, kissing her fingers.

"Is the baby okay?" She begged, grasping his hand frantically.

"The baby is fine. The doc said you weren't dilating so they're gonna have to do it this way." Daryl said softly.

She looked up into his eyes, trusting that he would protect her.

"I shouldn't have left." He whispered, taking her hand in both of his. "This is my fault. Please forgive me."

She smiled, her eyes bright with unshed tears and she squeezed his hand.

"I love you." She whispered back as the nurse injected the anesthesia into her IV tube.

Daryl watched as her eyes drifted shut and he let out the breath he'd been holding.

Tiffany came to take her pulse and blood pressure while Daryl pressed her hand to his lips and closed his eyes, praying that they would be okay.

"She's out." Tiffany confirmed before going back to help Grace.

With that, Dr. Adams got to work, carefully cutting through the abdominal wall and into the uterus. With her hands on the baby, she pulled it carefully from her belly, handing it off to Tiffany who stood by with a towel. Wrapping the baby snugly, they clamped the umbilical cord, freeing the child from its mother and cleaned it off.

"It's a girl." Grace said, handing the baby to Daryl who stood with shaking hands, ready to hold her.

Tears pricked Daryl's eyes as he gazed down into her eyes. She didn't cry but gazed up into his eyes before looking around curiously, taking the world in. Never, had he felt like this; so in awe; so breathless with wonder. Leaning down, he kissed his newborn daughter on the forehead, then handed her back to Tiffany, who waited to take her from him.

Turning back to the unconscious Katelyn, he kissed her, stroking her cheek with his finger, while Dr. Adams worked on stitching her up.

He noticed how pale she was and grew concerned.

"Is she all right?" He asked, his brow furrowed with worry.

Grace looked up at Katelyn's face and motioned for Tiffany to check on her.

Hurrying over, Tiffany took her pulse and blood pressure.

"Pressure's dropping." The nurse called out, and Grace began to hurry through stitching her up.

"We need to finish this, quickly." Grace stated, more to herself than to anyone else.

"What's going on?" Daryl demanded, looking at the two medical professionals.

"She's going into shock." Tiffany explained, moving quickly to hook up another IV bag.

"Step back." Tiffany stated, trying to work fast so they could save the fading Katelyn.


	22. Chapter 22

Katelyn was so still that Daryl was afraid to blink lest she slip away. She'd lost a considerable amount of blood and had to be transfused. Daryl's arms were folded, leaning on the bed next to Katelyn's head. His head lay with his temple pressed to his arms, watching her as she slept.

Tiffany made a nursery out of the office that connected to the room. A large glass window allowed her see both patients at once. She smiled sadly as she watched Daryl stand vigil at Kate's bed the last two days and hoped that she'd be all right.

Carol quietly entered the room, picking up a blanket that lay stacked in a pile. Shaking it out, she draped it over Daryl's shoulders, kissing him on the top of the head. He didn't move, merely looked up at her with eyes filled with worry.

"How's mama?" She asked gently.

His eyes filled with tears for a moment. Using the back of his hand, he wiped them clear.

"She's still unconscious." He said softly, picking up her hand again to lay his cheek against it.

Carol put her hands on his shoulders and laid her head on top of his.

"This is my fault." Daryl said, choking on the words.

"Oh, Daryl. This isn't your fault. Grace said that the attack probably caused permanent damage to her. There was no way of knowing with the equipment that they had." Carol explained, trying to make him feel better.

"But I should have been here." He cried out, tears now freely falling from his eyes.

"There was nothing you could have done that would have made this easier." Carol said, watching as he let his head fall forward into his folded arms and began to cry.

She watched his shoulders shake with the sobs and slid her arms around him, hugging him tightly as she would comfort a small child.

"She's gonna be okay." Carol comforted, "You'll see."

Carol kissed the top of his head and pulled away, looking toward the nursery.

Walking into the room, Carol looked down at the beautiful baby and smiled. She was on the small side, dainty and sweet. She didn't cry much, merely content with watching the world curiously and sleeping.

"May I?" Carol asked Tiffany who picked her up and placed her in her arms.

"Do you want to feed her? It's time." Tiffany asked, grabbing the bottle from the table.

Carol nodded, smiling through a sheen of tears as she looked down at the little miracle in her arms.

Daryl lay quietly, his head still tucked into his folded arms, when he felt a hand weave its fingers through his hair gently. Immediately, his head popped up and he saw Katelyn's eyes locked on his own. Stunned, he merely stared for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Hi." He said softly, finally remembering how to speak.

"Hi yourself." Katelyn whispered back to him.

Tears of joy sprang to his eyes and he silently thanked god for saving her.

"I love you more than anything." He hurried to tell her as thoughts of never getting to tell her that had plagued him over the past two days.

Katelyn smiled lovingly at him but her face fell immediately as she realized that she wasn't pregnant anymore. Panic hit her and her eyes grew frantic.

"The baby…where's the baby?" She struggled, trying to sit up to look around.

Daryl grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back into the bed.

"Woah…woah…she's fine. She's okay. She's with Tiffany and Carol." He said gently, trying to calm her back down.

Katelyn laid back down but her eyes moved around the room hectically, searching for her baby.

"It's a she?" It suddenly dawned on her as tears sprang to her eyes.

Daryl smiled softly.

"Yeah. It's a she." He said, nuzzling her hand.

Katelyn began to laugh through her tears.

Carol must have heard them because she moved toward the bed, holding the precious bundle in her arms. Smiling brightly at Katelyn, she stood beside the bed. Daryl quickly moved the gurney into a slant and propped pillows up behind her so she could hold their little girl. She was impatient and reaching out so quickly, she nearly fell out of bed.

"Hold on a sec. You…relax. I'll hand her to you." Daryl said, reaching out to take the newborn from Carol.

Kissing her on the cheek, he smiled as he watched her eyes fall straight on his face.

"Here ya go." He said gently, easing their daughter into her waiting arms. She was still weak so her arms shook a little, so Daryl scooted in behind Kate so he could wrap his arms around both of them.

"Look at her." Katelyn's eyes filled with tears of wonder as she gazed down at their little miracle. Easing her finger into the baby's hand, she gently stroked the tiny digits, kissing each one.

"She's so beautiful." She said almost reverently, never having seen anything so amazing in her life.

Her arms were already tired, however, so Daryl slipped his under her own to help support her weight.

"Doc says that you're gonna be exhausted for a while. You lost a lot of blood and the C-Sections are harder to recuperate from." Daryl told her, noticing the trembling of her arms.

"Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" Kate asked, looking up at Daryl who was gazing down into her eyes.

"No. You two are the most precious things in the world to me." He whispered, kissing Katelyn on the mouth before settling back against the bed so they could be comfortable.

"What should we name her?" He asked, watching her face.

She studied their daughter's face and immediately knew.

"Hope." She said simply, smiling when the baby looked at her.

"Hope Sophia Dixon" She added, looking at Carol who stood across the room with tears in her eyes.

Tiffany called out across the room to them from the doorway.

"You guys have visitors if you're up for it." She said, looking at Kate and Daryl for approval.

They both smiled, nodding at her.

Tiffany opened the door and gestured for everyone to come in.

Before too long, the room was filled with their family. Each and every member that had survived the world they lived in had become just that; family. Joy filled the entire group for once as they gazed on.

Rick stood by Carol with his hands resting on her shoulders, Andrea stood by Glenn and Maggie who were grinning at them, even Michonne stood there with an "almost-smile", Hershel, Tyreese…even Merle and Jackson, the guardian angel that brought Daryl home to her. They'd all slept in the hallway outside for two days, praying that for once, since the dead began walking, that today would be a day of miracles…

…and of hope.

_Authors Note: I really hope you guys enjoyed Katelyn and Daryl's story. It was a lot of fun to write. If anyone has any requests, shoot me a message and I'll get started on my next story. Thank you for all your support!_


	23. Chapter 23

Author's Note:

Hello and THANK YOU to everyone who supported my stories! Based on some of the feedback I've gotten, I'm going to use the trilogy as a starting off point for a series I'm going to title "Warriors of the Walking Dead" since that's who they all are. It will be in a similar format but will be based on the trilogy so it'll have Daryl and Katelyn, but will also use the other characters involved, in their own stories. So if you want to see more Daryl and Katelyn, please keep reading, and if you're interested in what happens with Rick, Merle, Jackson, Beth, Carol, Andrea and the others, stay tuned!

Hope you all enjoy!


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